Peverell's Children II
by Zikare
Summary: AU from the bathroom scene in HBP. Harry and Draco struggle to get through the war, while hiding their secret marriage and the fact that Draco is pregnant with Harry's twins. Focuses on the birth of the twins through the first year after the war.
1. Chapter 1

While Harry was at the Dursley's trying to convince them to go into hiding, Draco was in France, safely tucked away under a fidelius charm at his family's villa. There was no lilac forest with passion fruit vines or guava trees, but there were plenty of grape vines and sunshine. There was even a little stream that ran through the back of the property, which Draco had played in many times as a child, but was currently further than he could walk.

Draco was only four months pregnant and his stomach had only a small bump. He was sure it was bigger than the average pregnancy bump for this early stage, but he was carrying twins, after all, so his bump should be bigger. But even then, the lump wasn't all _that_ big and it certainly didn't explain why he was so tired all the time. Mother and Professor Snape said it was to be expected with a Peverell pregnancy; especially with twins and that he shouldn't overdo it. Hence he stayed inside their villa or went on walks through the first row of grape vines, but never any further out; never to the stream in the back and rarely to the vegetable garden on the side of the house.

Earlier Professor Snape had stopped by, which was about as much excitement as Draco ever got. Besides the occasional visits from Professor Snape, there was just Mother, Grandmother Druella, and the house elves to keep him company. He had lied to Harry, through their charmed coins, about Professor Snape not having the secret to the villa, but he knew Professor Snape was on his side and Harry couldn't know that. The professor had a job to do and he couldn't do it if anyone thought he was still a spy. So Draco had lied after leaving Harry, but he didn't feel bad about it, because he needed Snape.

Given the arrangement between Snape and Dumbledore, it was obvious that the situation could not remain as it was. Snape was destined to kill Dumbledore and immerse himself in his role as a spy for the Order, while Harry couldn't be allowed to know what was really going on. Harry's ignorance was critical in the plan and Harry would never allow Draco to be in continued contact with Snape after Dumbledore's death, so Draco was forced to choose between Harry and Snape. Draco had chosen Snape.

Professor Snape was Draco's physician after all, while Harry would be busy saving the world. At the very least Snape was needed to deliver the twins, although the professor came by more regularly than necessary. Snape checked on Draco and the pregnancy once a week and at the same time, delivered much sought after news. Mother could cast the diagnostic spells herself if Professor Snape couldn't make it, but Mother couldn't deliver news or be their link to the outside world. That was the primary reason Snape came by so often.

The diagnostic spells normally gave very good results, indicative of a very healthy baby. But there were two babies and twice now, the second time being today, the diagnostic spells revealed only mediocre results. The baby was alive and certainly surviving, but below average in weight. But then Professor Snape recast the spells and got the usual good results. The conclusion was, since there were two babies, that one baby was bigger and healthier than the other. They would have to watch the results closely and try to get two readings each time, but there was really nothing for it except for Draco to eat healthy and get plenty of rest.

Rest was something Draco did a lot of these days. He took long afternoon naps, went to bed early, and woke up late. He was tired now, because it was almost naptime, but he had a letter to write, so he was sitting out on the patio table with his parchment, quill, and ink bottle, and he was writing. Every few words he'd pause and look up at the view of rolling hills covered in row after row of grape vines, while he would try to decide which words to use next. This was a very important letter after all, because it was to his father.

Professor Snape had delivered news that very morning. Lucius Malfoy and several other Death Eaters had walked out of Azkaban with the permission of the dementors, a corrupt Ministry official, and a pair of Aurors that were in the Dark Lord's pocket. Draco's father was free and that meant Draco had to get a message to Father, letting him know that the Malfoy's had switched sides, but the message had to be cryptic. It couldn't give away too much, in case the letter fell into the wrong hands or in the event that Father decided not to change sides.

Narcissa, Druella, and Draco were all convinced that Lucius would change sides immediately once Lucius knew what was going on, but there was no point in coming out with all the details at once. This letter certainly shouldn't reveal that Draco was married to Harry, that Harry had changed his last name to Malfoy, or that Draco was pregnant with twins, by Harry. Lucius would know in time, but that was too much to write in this first letter. This letter had to be short and simple and give only the barest amount of information.

The letter read, "I remember when my Grandfather Abraxas and I would walk together in the vineyard surrounded by row after row of grapes. Grandfather Abraxas would show me how to tend the vines and he would tell me about the life lessons he had learned, such as when it was time to cut your losses. I miss my grandfather and I have missed you too Father. I hope to see you soon, your loving son, Draco Malfoy."

Draco had written that an hour ago, just after lunch. Then he had performed the secrecy charm he and Father always used to code their messages. The parchment blanched and blanked itself and now he was attempting to write the real letter. The first letter had its clues that would be visible to any Death Eater, Order member, or Auror who might intercept it, but this second one only Father would know how to decode. This one was for Father's eyes only.

So far Draco only had a few sentences written even though he had been thinking about it for a half hour now. The parchment read, "I am safe with Grandmother Druella and Mother in hiding under a fidelius charm. I am still unable to fight after an injury I sustained this year at Hogwarts."

After writing that Draco had gotten distracted by the burning in his Dark Mark on his left forearm. The mark had been dormant all during his sixth year at Hogwarts and hadn't so much as twinged since he stepped on the Hogwarts expressed last September; the mark had to be dormant in order to keep his cover while he was on assignment from the Dark Lord. But after Dumbledore's death, Draco was supposed to report back to the Dark Lord. Professor Snape had reported back, but Draco had gone into hiding at the villa. Thus the Dark Lord had summoned Draco with the mark, turning it from a pale, almost non-existent outline that he had easily hidden from Harry behind a glamour, to the jet black image of a snake coming out of the mouth of a skull. The mark burned all the time now, indicating that the Dark Lord was still attempting to call Draco to the His service. But it was only an unpleasant burning sensation and Draco wouldn't go. Instead Draco would call back his father from the Dark Lord's service and cost Him a loyal follower.

Draco, turning away from his arm and back to his parchment, thought very carefully about what to write and then he added, "The Malfoy family has decided to switch sides."

Draco thought some more, before adding, "I suggest you go into hiding and lie low." Then he looked up and stared at the beautiful hillsides, before deciding to end it with, "We'll be in touch."

Another half an hour passed as Draco went over everything he had written, twice, and made sure that he hadn't said too much. From the non-coded message, Father would be able to figure out that they were in France at the Malfoy villa where Grandfather Abraxas had gone to retire. Father would also know that Draco felt it was time to cut their losses and disassociate with the Dark Lord. Father would make his way to France and find a place to lie low near the villa, but thanks to the fidelius charm, Father wouldn't be able to find it; instead Father would wait for further contact. A second letter would be sent when Father had made his excuses to the Dark Lord and thrown off all Death Eater contacts. But for now, this was it and Draco was exhausted.

Narcissa brought Draco out a glass of grape juice and a small plate of cheese slices. "You look knackered dragon; you can finish this letter after your lie down," she said.

It was grape juice, grapes, tomatoes, milk, yogurt, and cheese slices every day now that they were at the villa. They had no pumpkin juice, so the elves were mixing the morning sickness remedy in with the drinks they had plenty of, which were milk and grape juice. There was a small dairy farm on the other side of the villa and a small garden on the side of the villa, in addition to the vineyard. The house elves tended it all, which meant they had all the diary, tomatoes, and grape products they could want.

Draco took a sip of his grape juice and replied to his mother, "I've finished it. Here, have a look, Mother." He pushed the parchment over to her and began to eat his cheese.

Narcissa took the parchment and read it, while Draco continued to eat and drink. Draco was popping the last slice of cheese into his mouth when Narcissa replied, "It's good Draco, but do you think it's wise to include such blatant hints in the non-coded portion? Anyone could read this and know that we're at our villa in France and are traders."

"I think it will be obvious to the Dark Lord where we have gone soon enough. As for cutting our losses; that could refer to anything," Draco replied, before taking another gulp of his juice.

"No, I think it clearly indicates that we have switched sides. You should change it to something else."

"Like what?"

"Like that family comes first or that when injured, one should take the time to nurse one's wounds, before jumping back into the fight. Your Grandfather Abraxas said both of those things to me."

"Yeah, that could work. I'll change it after dinner," Draco said, finishing the juice.

Narcissa left the parchment out on the table and walked Draco into the villa. He could manage on his own, but he was growing weaker as the pregnancy progressed and the stairs were becoming harder on him, so she wanted to walk with him, just in case. A house elf was already putting the lid back on the ink and cleaning up. Later, after Draco's nap, the elf would put the writing supplies back so that he could rewrite the letter.

Draco made his way upstairs to his new bedroom and lay down for his nap. It was a large room with an en suite bathroom and adjacent to the room that would become the nursery. His mother and grandmother were still working on decorating the nursery and setting up all the baby things, but he wasn't quite halfway through his pregnancy, so they had time.

When Draco woke up, he had dinner with his mother and grandmother and then started rewriting his letter to his father.

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Author's Note: I hope everyone has made it over to the sequel! I have a couple of transition chapters planned for the pregnancy, but the babies will be here rather quickly!

Please Review and let me know if you're still reading this story!


	2. Chapter 2

Not long after Harry's birthday and the debacle at Bill and Fleur's wedding reception, Severus Snape got word from the Dark Lord that no one had seen hide nor hair from Lucius Malfoy in weeks. The last report of Lucius' whereabouts had him with a group of Death Eaters near the Malfoy Manor. Lucius had claimed he was just going to pop into the Manor to make sure everything was ready for the Dark Lord to move in and then Lucius would rejoin the Death Eaters for a muggle raid.

Lucius never showed and the Malfoy Manor was deserted and not by any means ready for anyone to move in. The house had been stripped of everything, including furniture, but the Dark Lord just ordered his followers to furnish the place and then moved in without the Malfoys. The Manor was now the Dark Lord's primary base of operations, but Lucius was still gone. The Dark Lord was livid at the desertion, for it was without a doubt desertion at this point; if Lucius had been captured, the other side would be boasting about it. Or if a setback had come up, Lucius would've reported back by now. Neither had happen, ergo Lucius was a deserter.

The Dark Lord had just issued orders to his assembled Death Eaters that Lucius was to be killed on sight.

"My Lord, if I may speak?" Severus asked.

"You may Severus," Voldemort replied in his cold, high voice.

"Last time I saw him, the Malfoy scion was still in very poor shape from a sectumsempra Potter hit him with. I think it is possible that Lucius found his son and is busy tending to his dying only child and has thus forgotten about his other responsibilities. Perhaps we ought to bring him in for questioning, before he is to be executed?" Severus asked. "Perhaps compassion is called for when faced with losing one's only heir." He knew the Dark Lord would not be swayed by compassion, but His followers would sympathize with what is viewed as the ultimate lose among purebloods.

"You still believe the youngest Malfoy to be dying then?"

"Yes my Lord. I mended the wounds multiple times, but the mends would not hold and would deteriorate."

"And the other Malfoys?"

"Druella is an old woman and her presence was a hindrance on our dear Bellatrix's time. Narcissa is weak; she is no fighter. I highly doubt any of them have turned against our cause or will be in any way opposition to us. They simply are not in a position to contribute bodily strength right now, although Lucius has left you this house for our meetings; is that not enough? Do we not need ordinary witches and wizards on our side, lending us support my Lord?" Severus asked.

"Very well spoken Severus. You are correct; Lucius did leave us his home and use of the galleons in his vault; we can grant him a temporary leave to deal with his family matters. Do not kill him on sight, but bring him in for questioning if found," Lord Voldemort announced.

Severus had the rest of the Death Eater meeting to sit through, but when he was given his assignment, he left Malfoy Manor and went to the Malfoy's villa in France to deliver the good news to Narcissa and Druella. After a short meeting it was agreed that it was time for another communication with Lucius. Narcissa set to writing the next coded letter and Severus went up to Draco's room to check on his charge.

Draco was doing increasingly worse; sleeping all hours of the day and waking up only to eat and drink and then falling back to sleep again. Most days now he didn't even bother leaving the bedroom and he certainly never had the energy to make it down the stairs. Severus didn't have the proper medical background to predict this result of the separation between Harry and Draco. Since then he had pulled out his medical reference for a brush-up on male pregnancy and then began searching for other medical books on male pregnancy, to look for the cause of the problem.

Severus found several cases of Peverell pregnancies where the birth father was inordinately exhausted. The books all cited situations where the other father had left and therefore was not available to transfer magic to the birth father on a regular basis. In those cases the birth father was unusually exhausted and always tired, but not nearly as bad off as Draco. But then Draco was carrying twins, which increased the magical load, and Severus couldn't find any documentation on cases with twins where the other father had left. He could only assume that the increased severity of the symptoms was due to the extra baby and hope that the medical references were correct in their assertions that the energy drain was never life threatening. And to think, they hadn't even realized magic transfer occurred during male pregnancies, much less how important it was; critical, really.

Draco woke up when Severus was halfway through his diagnostic spells and since Draco needed to eat as much as possible, Severus handed Draco the bunch of grapes from the bedside table. Severus went back to work casting his spells while Draco ate. One baby, the baby in the front, was bigger and healthier than the other. It always took a bit of work, but if Severus aimed just right, he could get the spells to penetrate from the right side of Draco's body, where the smaller twin was located. While the first twin was thriving, this second one was only surviving, so he always made sure to get a reading on the little one to make sure all was still well.

"Still healthy. How are you doing today Draco?" Severus asked.

"Tired," Draco replied and popped another grape into his mouth.

"Hang in there. I have word from the Dark Lord that he cannot locate your father. Your mother is sending the next letter to him."

"Great," Draco said and continued eating. He was so tired these days that he rarely had much to contribute to conversations. One of the babies elbowed him, but he was used to the discomfort by now and didn't pause in his consumption of his grapes to acknowledge the movement.

Severus sat with Draco until Draco finished eating and then vanished the debris from the grapes and handed Draco a glass of milk. Draco's nausea had decreased, but they were still mixing the anti-nausea tea in with Draco's milk, just in case. Draco was thinner than Severus would've like for this far along, so they were making every effort to get as much food in the young man as possible and prevent any vomiting attacks, if possible.

Draco handed the empty glass back to his old professor and closed his eyes, tired already. But this was the most exciting part of his week, because Professor Snape was here, so he forced his eyes back open and asked, "How was He? Was He mad about father?"

"Yes, but I talked him down. I explained that you were likely dying and your father needed to be with his family right now. Lucius left the Dark Lord galleons and the use of the Manor and I was able to convince Him that that was enough."

"Good." It took Draco a minute to gather his thoughts, but then he added, "How are the babies? Is the little one any bigger?"

"They are both well. The little one has grown a bit and that's encouraging."

"Great," Draco answered sleepily. He suddenly felt his coin with the Protean charm burning in his pocket. His Dark Mark had been burning off and on since Dumbledore's death, but his coin had lain dormant up until recently. He pulled the coin out of his pocket and read it.

"What is that Draco?" Severus asked.

"A message from Harry; says he loves me," Draco replied handing the coin over to Professor Snape.

"I'll just put it in your nightstand for you," Severus said, placing the charmed galleon in the top drawer of Draco's nightstand, where he knew for a fact Draco kept other mementoes of Harry.

"Tell me about what's happening on the outside. Has anyone heard from Harry?" Draco asked.

"Mr. Potter was believed to be at the Weasley's for the wedding of their oldest son, but when Death Eaters broke up the party, Mr. Potter, Ms. Granger, and Mr. Ronald Weasley were all nowhere to be found. The portrait of Professor Phineas Nigellus Black assures me that he has heard the ruckus noise of three annoying teenagers inhabiting the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black and the portrait of Walburga Black told him that there have been mudbloods, halfbloods, and blood traitors in her house again."

"So he's safe, yeah?"

"He is safe. The Dark Lord has infiltrated more of the ministry and has moved his headquarters to your house. He has once again inhabited the guesthouse and uses the first floor to conduct his meetings and various businesses. And he has ordered me to return to Hogwarts as headmaster."

"That's brilliant. You'll make the best headmaster; I almost wish I could go to Hogwarts this year just so I could see it."

"Thank you Draco."

Severus told Draco of his various plans for taking over the school, such as which faculty would have to be sacked, which ones the Dark Lord had already fed to Nagini, and which would be coerced into maintaining their positions. Draco closed his eyes and fell back to sleep while Severus was talking, so Severus went to check on Narcissa, who was in the drawing room with Druella and just finishing her letter to Lucius.

"You're all a bunch of namby pamby blood traitors if you ask me. Lucius should stay out in the real world and do His work!" Druella said to no one in particular.

"No one is asking you Mother," Narcissa replied patiently. She was very familiar with her mother's views on everything; Druella was a very outspoken old lady.

"Draco is sleeping again. The examination went well," Severus told Narcissa.

"Excellent. I was just going over my note to Lucius; care to check it over for me?" Narcissa asked.

"Of course, Cissy," Severus said taking the note. He read it, but it only contained a funny antidote about how Druella had gotten her wand stolen by doxies last week. "It's coded then. What does the rest say?"

"Just that we have decided to align ourselves with the other side after Draco fell in love with the opposition and that it is in the best interest of our family if the Dark Lord is not successful," Narcissa replied.

"And it's a crying shame too! That boy should've been taught to look where he's sticking is tallywacker _before_ he winds up up the duff!" Druella exclaimed.

"Yes madam, you're absolutely correct," Severus agreed.

Narcissa huffed and replied, "Well it's too late now. You're only choice is to accept the marriage and resulting children or be sent back to Bella. Draco is my only son and I intend to keep him."

"And that's what you get for having only one child! If you'd had three like me, you'd have room to disinherit one and send another off to the nuthouse. Did you know that the last time Bella checked on me she started cackling at the _tea_?" Druella asked.

"Yes mother, because you've told this story to me at least a dozen times now. Perhaps I should set a house elf to count them for me," Narcissa replied.

"I shall let you two lovely ladies enjoy your evening; I must be getting off to Hogwarts now. Do send out your letter right away Cissy," Severus said.

"Yes, I will. Thank you so much for stopping by. I'll see you next week!" Narcissa said.

Severus left and Narcissa went over her letter one more time, before calling Mipsy and having the elf deliver the letter. Delivering mail by house elf was safer for the mail, if more risky for the elf, and had the advantage that the elf could come back with information on Lucius' whereabouts and even carry a return message.

Of course the owl that had carried the first letter to her husband had come back with a return message. It was written on the back of the original letter and read only, "If that is how it must be, then so be it." This time Narcissa was hoping for a more detailed response as well as information regarding Lucius' location.

Once Mipsy was off, Narcissa talked her mother into a game of cribbage to pass the time while they wait. The old woman muttered a bit more racist nonsense, which Narcissa politely indulged and she even agreed with most of it. Three hands in, Mipsy was back with a pop.

"Lady Narcissa Malfoy, mam, Mipsy is having a message from Lord Lucius Malfoy, sir," Mipsy said.

"Yes, go ahead Mipsy," Narcissa said, putting her cards down and holding her breath. She could feel her heart rate speed up at this critical moment when she would learn if her husband would support her and her son or not.

"Lord Lucius Malfoy, sir, said to tell Lady Narcissa Malfoy, mam, that family always comes first, mam, and that he wishes Master Draco Malfoy, sir, did not feel such a way, but that if Master Draco Malfoy, sir, truly does feel thusly, he will concede, mam. He would also like to know if the entire Malfoy family, sirs and mams, is alright, because he has been very worried about the family, sirs and mams. He has heard that Master Draco Malfoy, sir, is greatly ill and he would very much like to help care for Master Draco Malfoy, sir," Mipsy said.

"Thank you Mipsy. And where is my husband located?" Narcissa asked.

"Lord Lucius Malfoy, sir, is a few miles south of here, mam, hiding in a cave, mam. He told Mipsy that he is hiding, mam, from Death Eaters, Aurors, and all other manner of witches and wizard, sirs and mams."

"That close?" Narcissa asked with a gasp. She desperately wanted to see her husband again after more than a year of separation.

"Yes, mam."

"Well don't just sit there!" Druella exclaimed. "Send the elf to get him, just like Severus brought me! I don't even know where the bloody knickers I am and neither will he. What bloody harm can we possibly do?"

"Mother, Severus needs to examine Lucius' with legilimency and veritaserum before we can let him in! Draco and the babies' lives depend on this!" Narcissa replied.

"Frosted whiz-bangs, you know the man can get past all that with his occlumency and whatnot. He fooled the Ministry the first time around, didn't he?" Druella asked.

Narcissa conceded that her mother had a point, but since it was her Draco's life on the line, she insisted on waiting for Severus. She sent an owl off with a letter to Severus immediately. Severus replied back that he couldn't do it today, but that he would do it next week when he came for his usual visit, so she went back to playing cards with her mother. She wanted to send her husband another letter explaining that Severus would come for him next week, but she didn't want to give Lucius the chance to spring a trap on Severus or report back to the Dark Lord, if this were a trap. So she didn't write a letter and stuck to her game of cards.

* * *

Author's Note: I modeled Druella after my own racist grandmother. She's one those old WWII era fireballs. My aunts say that she'll live 'til 120 just to spite them.

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	3. Chapter 3

Lucius was hiding out in a cave in France as near to where he could figure the Malfoy villa was as he could get. The cave was tiny, deep, and dark and barely afforded him enough space to curl up for the night; it was only high enough for him to sit up or crouch down. It was undignified for the Lord Malfoy to crawl into a cave to hide, but he did it for his family. All of wizarding society was closed to him right now and he didn't dare risk associating with muggles, for fear of the Dark Lord or the Order tracking him down or worse; his family would be watching him, observing him, and making sure he was alone and if he wasn't, they might just hold off on contacting him.

A proper Malfoy is nothing if not prepared. As such, emergency preparedness was one of the skills passed on to Lucius from his father Abraxas, who had learned it from his father Septimus, who learned it from his father before him. It was a simple, if thorough, plan that involved stocking up enough rations, severing all contacts indefinitely, and going into hiding. If one member was separated from the rest, he or she was to first make sure they were alone and not being followed and then get as near to where he or she could figure the family was hiding and wait. The family would wait, watch, and observe for weeks or months until they could be absolutely certain that they would not be ambushed when retrieving the isolated family member.

It was long grueling hours of boredom for which Lucius could do little more than sit and contemplate just what had happened in his absence to turn the tide, send his family into hiding, and turn their backs on the Dark Lord. He never questioned turning his back on his Lord, since it meant the safety of his family. From the moment he read his son's letter with its short, but informative message, he knew that for whatever reason, it was now in the best interest of the family to switch sides.

There were any number of reasons why it would be in the Malfoy family's best interest to switch sides. The Malfoy motto was Purity Will Always Conquer, but that was just what they told people, when in fact the family's motto really was Always Land on the Winning Side. It was ingrained in every Malfoy since birth that in any scuffle, skirmish, battle, or war, when it was all said and done, no matter what side the Malfoys were on when it started, they would switch to the winning side by the end. The most likely solution to why the Malfoys were switching sides was thus that Draco or Narcissa had come across irrefutable proof that the Dark Lord would lose.

It was simple enough really: the Malfoy family would support the side with proper pureblood ideals up until the point in which it became obvious that the pureblood side would lose. Then the Malfoy family would collectively jump ship and land with their heads up and their feet on the ground, firmly insisting they had been on the other side all along. That must be what was happening now and Lucius was just the last to find out, because he had been locked up in Azkaban when the important decisions were made.

Lucius would have given anything to have been free when it all went down and to have been there when his family decided it was time to bail. He wondered if perhaps young Draco had acted too rashly and the Dark Lord might yet have a chance at winning, but then he was also proud of Draco for taking care of Narcissa and Druella in his absence, especially when there was a war on. He had been well aware of first Narcissa's and then her mother's disappearances and he had originally thought that when he was released he would have to track down his wife and mother-in-law himself and then collect a frightened Draco from the care of his friends. He had been pleasantly surprised to find out that Draco had collected the family and the reason they couldn't be found was that they had found it necessary for the entire family to go into hiding.

Again Lucius' thoughts drifted back to what could have possibly driven his wife and son to decide to go into hiding. He wasn't going to question the decision, but he was dying to know the reasons behind it. Was the Dark Lord's vision of a pure wizarding society truly hopeless? Had Narcissa learned some critical bit of information about the flaws in the Dark Lord's plans while staying with Him? Had Draco learned some critical piece of information about the capabilities and plans of the other side whilst at Hogwarts? Perhaps the Potter brat was even more powerful than anyone knew or the infernal late Dumbledore had something up his sleeve in store for the Dark Lord.

But then Dumbledore was dead and Lucius couldn't think of anything the old man could still do from beyond the grave. If Draco had gone into hiding _without_ killing Dumbledore, now that would be another story and would certainly explain the Malfoy family's current modus opperandi. If Draco had failed his task, then there was real concern that the Dark Lord might kill Draco for the failure and then it would make perfect sense that Draco had gathered the family up and taken them into hiding. But Draco had not failed and Dumbledore was dead; Severus had even given testimony in front of the Dark Lord that Draco was critical in setting up the trap that Dumbledore had walked into, even if the boy hadn't been able to pull off the killing curse himself; Severus swore that if it weren't for Draco's serious injuries physically preventing it, Draco would've succeeded by himself.

Draco was a hero in Lucius' eyes and he was certain from his first Death Eater meeting after being released from Azkaban that the Dark Lord was proud of Draco and Draco's actions too. Severus had told him that Draco was injured earlier in the school year and was not in sufficient shape to do battle or run from Aurors and had thus gone into hiding. Lucius had been concerned about his son's injuries immediately, but until the letter from Draco explaining that he was still in bad shape, he had hoped that the injuries were minor. After all, a simple broken leg could prevent Draco from running from Aurors and fighting, especially if Draco couldn't receive proper medical treatment, because he was wanted for questioning regarding Dumbledore's death.

But then Lucius' world had fallen apart when he took Severus aside during his second Death Eater meeting and asked for details on his son's injuries. That was when he learned that the sectumsempra curse the horrible Potter brat had hit Draco with _months_ ago was still posing a sever threat to Draco's life. He had felt as if his heart was being wrenched from his chest and stomped on by angry giants when he learned of the critical condition Draco was in the last time Severus had seen him. Back then Lucius thought Narcissa and Druella may have taken Draco into hiding just to have a safe place to treat Draco's wounds.

That may be part of it, but with Narcissa's latest letter sent just last week, Lucius had learned that that wasn't all of it. The one line which stated that Draco had fallen in love with a member of the opposition had shocked Lucius to his core. He had never imagined that this had something to do with a love match. Of course if it really was too late and his son truly could not be persuaded from this course, then he would support his son, but he couldn't imagine his little Draco throwing away their pureblooded ideals over a crush; there simply had to be more to it than that.

For the last week now Lucius had been going through every possibility regarding who Draco's love match could be. It couldn't be anyone on the Dark Lord's side of the war or otherwise the relationship would have no bearing on the war. So it had to be someone from one of the many families who didn't support the Dark Lord. There was absolutely no way it was a mudblood, because he had raised Draco better than that. He thought he had raised Draco better than to choose a halfblood or a blood traitor, but there was always the possibility that he was wrong. He didn't think he was; he thought Draco's young man was most likely a pureblood from a family who opposed the Dark Lord.

Lucius was ninety-nine percent sure Draco's love interest was a young man. He and Narcissa always knew it was a possibility that their Draco was queer and Draco had confirmed their suspicions last year, before he was sent to Azkaban. He was fine with his son's sexuality; in fact there were many queer Peverell couples in his family tree. Peverell wizards could bear young just as easily as witches could, so there was no issue with his Draco being queer. He loved his son and if his son loved wizards, well then that was fine by him. But which wizard could it be?

A major hurdle is Lucius' determination of who Draco's young man could be was that he didn't know which of the young men at Hogwarts were queer, so they were all suspect. There were twenty boys in Draco's year and twenty in the year above and the year below Draco. Lucius thought it was most likely that it was someone close to Draco in age, although it was possible that it was someone a few years younger. But it couldn't be someone more than two years older, or they wouldn't still be at Hogwarts and Draco wouldn't have met the boy at school.

There were several possibilities Lucius came up with. None of which he liked, but many of them he disliked more than the others. The worst possible choice that he could think of was Neville Longbottom. The boy was a pureblood and not from a family of blood traitors. The Longbottom pedigree was good enough that he would willingly accept the match, if it weren't for the fact that the Longbottom boy was such a useless squib. The boy had barely enough magic in him to get him into Hogwarts and his only hope for a future career was in gardening.

The Malfoys weren't gardeners; it was beneath them. Sure the Malfoy women might take up gardening as a hobby to pass the time between caring for the children and supervising the house elves, but it wasn't their career and they all had more magic in them than the wee bit it took to garden. Besides, the house elves always did all the real work of weeding, watering, and harvesting; all Malfoy women ever did was direct where things were to be planted.

Lucius seriously hoped Draco had not picked Longbottom, but then he didn't think his Draco much cared for the Longbottom boy and couldn't picture the two of them together. He sighed and gave up on figuring out the riddle and let his mind wander off to more fertile areas of thought, such as what he was going to eat for lunch.

Lucius had had plenty of rations when he started out, but he had been in hiding for over a month now and was running low. He opened his rucksack, which had a sizeable wizard space charm on it; in fact the inside of his rucksack was larger than the inside of this cave. He reached inside and pulled out a bowl of pasta with a stasis charm on it that the house elves had made for him before he set off on this journey. He couldn't eat it, because it was the last bowl of pasta he had and if he ate it, he wouldn't be able to have pasta again for who knows how long. But he could multiply the bowl of pasta until he had two bowls of pasta, which he did. Food that was stretched like this was less nutritious that regular food and if he kept stretching it long enough, he'd eventually die of starvation while feeling full, but for now it was better to eat stretched food and not be hungry than to do without.

He left the original bowl under the stasis charm and used his wand to heat up the second bowl. This wasn't the Malfoy wand he had inherited from his father with the snake head and the cane; no, Draco had that wand ever since it was taken away from him when he was sent to Azkaban. He had to have a wand, so the first thing he'd done after being released, was to go to the Manor and find his old wand, the one he'd used before his father's death. He found the wand right where he'd left it, hidden under the floorboards in the bedroom he had shared with Narcissa. The rest of the house was eerily empty with almost all of the furniture and Malfoy possessions gone; even the portraits were missing from the walls. He had assumed Draco had removed the valuables from the house and stowed everything away in the attic, where their dark artifacts were hidden. He didn't bother looking for the furniture though, because everything he needed was under the floorboard in that bedroom: his rucksack filled with emergency supplies had been there for years waiting for an occasion such as this. All he had to do when he got Draco's letter was order the house elves to add food and find some books.

Lucius ate lunch, vanished the bowl, and then looked around his rucksack for something to do to pass the time. But then he'd been looking in his rucksack for something to do to pass the time every day for a month plus. He'd read all of the novels he had packed and half of the textbooks. Like the furniture gone from the Manor, most of the books were missing from the library. The elves did find one box of books shoved into the duct work somewhere; they all appeared to be over a hundred years old, but he still transferred the lot of them into his rucksack. The rest of the books had likely been shrunk and hidden in the attic and he hadn't bothered going up there, for fear that he was being watched and that Death Eaters would come in behind him and figure out something was up. There were concealment charms and locking spells on their attic hiding place, but once someone knew to look up there, it was much more likely that they'd discover and dismantle it. They'd probably steal all the family valuables by the time he returned, so instead of going to the attic, he'd gone to a muggle bookstore and purchased a couple dozen novels, which besides being abhorrently muggle, were long since read.

Lucius thought about re-reading one of the muggle books, but they weren't that great in the first place and had all these confusing muggle terms, like phone and TV, in them. Finally he decided to peruse through a charming and very old book full of wonderfully dark curses that had been in the box the house elves found. He could always use a new spell or two and he wouldn't even use them on Longbottom, if in fact Longbottom was the boy Draco was besotted with.

Lucius was an hour or so into the book on dark curses when he heard his intruder alert charms go off. He quickly threw down the book and pulled his crystal ball from his rucksack; this crystal ball was a very important tool in his emergency preparedness arsenal and had been under the floorboard inside the rucksack for years. He tapped the it with his wand, making it reveal the view from the entrance to the cave, courtesy of his intruder monitoring charm. First he noted the long billowing black robes and knew instantly that it was a wizard. It was only moments later that the face of Severus Snape came into focus.

"Ah shite," Lucius said, packing his things back into his rucksack and preparing to apparate away, because he couldn't let the Death Eaters find him.

Just as Lucius was about to leave, he heard Severus' voice from outside the cave, "Draco and Narcissa have sent me."

Lucius paused for a moment to consider the possibility that Severus was yet again playing the role of spy. Severus was obviously acting as a spy, but just whose side was he really on? Was he on the Dark Lord's side and trying to lure Lucius out or was he telling the truth and knew where his family was? That was likely, because Draco was close to Severus at school and Draco might even trust Severus. And if the Malfoy family had switched sides and Severus really was Dumbledore's wizard all along, then Severus would be the perfect person to help ferry his family over to the other side of this war. But that couldn't be the case, because Severus had just killed Dumbledore.

"Prove it," Lucius spat, preparing to apparate at the drop of a sickle.

"In the letter you received last week from Narcissa, she wrote to you about Draco's love affair with someone from the opposition," Severus said.

That was true and what's more was that Lucius couldn't think of any reason why Severus would know that unless he was either in league with his family or had captured his family. Either way, he wanted to know more, so he stayed and didn't disapparate. "Go on," he said.

"You are not going to like who it is, but before I can take you to them I need to test where your loyalties lie."

"My loyalties lie firstly with my family and secondly with the Dark Lord."

"The two are in direct conflict at the moment."

"Family always comes first with me."

"Yes, but your family is not in a state where they would be able to defend themselves against you should you change your mind. Druella is old, Narcissa is no fighter, and Draco is ill."

"How is he Severus? Is Draco dying?" Lucius asked desperately. The words tasted like bile on his tongue and he hoped he would never have to utter such horrible words again. His only son possibly dying was the worst thing he could imagine. Turning against the Dark Lord was nothing compared with losing his son.

"I believe he shall live, but he is very weak right now."

"Please take me to him, Severus, I'll do anything you ask of me."

"Would you permit me to side-along apparate you into the Fidelius protected villa, so that you would not be able to get back in to do harm if you chose to leave?"

"Yes."

"And would you let me examine your mind with legilimency?"

"Yes. I won't even use occlumency against you."

"Very well," Severus said before diving into Lucius' thoughts. Lucius seemed to be telling the truth, but that left open the question of how Lucius would react when he found out about Draco's involvement with Harry. He broke the connection before speaking again. "I would like to tell you who Draco is involved with and witness your reaction."

"Yes, alright, anything. Oh Merlin I hope it's not that Longbottom kid."

"Worse. It's Harry Potter. Legilimens."

Lucius was in disbelief and was sure he must've heard wrong, because Severus couldn't have just said what he thought Severus said. Draco could _not_ be involved in a relationship with Potter! It was ridiculous! Draco was even less likely to be with Potter than Longbottom. But Severus had said it was Potter and Severus was in his mind right now listening to his every thought, judging him. This would determine whether or not he would be taken to see Draco, his precious son. Draco was still injured and he wanted nothing more than to go to Draco and comfort Draco and it didn't even matter how in love Draco fancied himself with whichever halfblood, even if that halfblood was Harry Potter, he just couldn't be mad at his son right now.

Of course if it was Harry Potter Draco was in love with it would explain why Lucius' family had been forced into hiding. If the Dark Lord found out about the love affair, Draco would be a target. Lucius couldn't let the Dark Lord have Draco, even if it meant siding with the infernal Potter. The bespectacled little git wasn't going to take his son away from him. If his son really had chosen Potter, then he would stand by his son.

Maybe there was some way Lucius could spin this so that the Malfoys came out on top. Maybe the Dark Lord would go down, but at the end of the war, they'd have Harry Potter in their family. He certainly didn't want Potter in the family, because he hated the brat, but he was not so prejudiced to ignore the boon that they would receive by having Potter join the family in the event of Potter's future defeat of the Dark Lord. There would have to be a wedding of course, but then Potter could stay home tending to the wee little ones and be too busy to cause trouble. Then he and Draco could use Potter's name to control the Ministry and get their pureblooded agenda pushed through. The Malfoys would be in power once again.

Severus broke the connection and said, "I'm glad you see it that way. I'll take you to your son now."

Lucius agreed and Severus apparated them to the villa where Narcissa was waiting. Lucius hugged his wife and placed emphatic kisses all over her face, because he was just so happy to be reunited with her. "I've missed you so much my dear flower," he said and kissed her again.

During the display of affection, Severus excused himself to check on Draco.

"I've missed you too. I wanted to come get you already, but we had to be sure it was safe before we could let you in. You do, ah, know about Draco, yes?" Narcissa asked. At least this conversation was made easier by the fact that her mother was taking a nap.

"Yes, Severus just told me he is involved with the Potter brat," Lucius said and for once in his life, he tried not to sneer at Potter's name.

"The Malfoy brat now; Harry has agreed to take our last name, so when the war ends, the name Harry Malfoy will be splashed across the newspapers."

"But that would mean a wedding before the end of the war. Is Potter here? Could we arrange a wedding?"

"I already did. They're already married and Harry is in hiding elsewhere, but I have word that he's safe."

"You already did? Don't you think that's rushing it Cissy? Even if they're in love and it would be great to have Potter in our pocket, we ought to give Draco a chance to change his mind. There's still the chance that when he recovers, he'll change his mind and want to go back to the Dark Lord."

"Lucius, it's too late for that. I had to rush the wedding, because Draco's pregnant; that's what's wrong with him, not the sectumsempra we've led everyone to believe."

"Pregnant? No, not our Draco! He wouldn't…"

"He said it was a bit of an accident. The boys got carried away and Harry went too far before Draco realized what was happening and now we are going to be grandparents."

"Draco should've stopped it as soon as he realized what was happening."

"They're teenage boys; they said it finished as soon as it started and Draco was already pushing Harry away, trying to get him to stop. It was an accident, but they seem to be genuinely in love and are committed to making it work and raising their impending family together."

"Where is Draco? Why isn't he down here?" Lucius asked, wondering why he had yet to see his son, if his son was only pregnant and not dying. Pregnant by Potter wasn't exactly good news, but it was better than dying.

"He's been very tired lately, because of the pregnancy. He sleeps most of the day away."

"That's not normal for a Peverell pregnancy."

"Extreme fatigue is normal when the other father is away. Draco hasn't seen Harry since Dumbledore's death. He's supporting the entire pregnancy on his magic alone and what's more, it's twins. There are two babies draining his magic."

"Twins? This just keeps getting worse. Why isn't Harry here helping Draco?" Lucius almost said Potter, but he caught himself just in the nick of time.

"It's not safe for us to have Harry here. Harry is a target wherever he is and as such, he doesn't even know where we are. Draco left him a note and we took off."

"So Draco is married to Harry Potter and pregnant by Potter and Potter doesn't even know where Draco is? Brilliant."

"Not Harry Potter, Harry Malfoy. But otherwise, precisely."

"It'll take some maneuvering, but with a Malfoy like Harry, I'm sure to be able to land a spot on the wizengamot. It won't be as lofty a position as I'd have with the Dark Lord, but Draco will be able to move up even higher, given that he is married to the savior, and will certainly be able to get our puppet candidate into office. Then Draco will be adviser to the Minister for Magic and pull all of the strings, just like my grandfather Septimus. Maybe I can have Severus put me in contact with some of the people on Harry's side. I hear they're looking for a new leader."

"Severus is on the outs with the Order right now."

"Are we at risk then? Will he turn us over to the Dark Lord?"

"No, Severus is loyal to us. I believe he is also still loyal to the Order, even though they are no longer speaking to him and he killed Dumbledore."

"Why did he kill Dumbledore if he was loyal to Dumbledore?"

"For one thing I made Severus take an unbreakable vow to help Draco and complete his task for him and for another, Dumbledore ordered Severus to."

"Dumbledore ordered his own death? The man must've been more senile than I thought."

"He was dying anyway and this way, with Severus killing him, he ensured that his spy would be fully accepted among the Death Eaters."

Then the topic shifted to all of the things Lucius had missed while in Azkaban. Lucius and Narcissa talked on until Severus' voice rang out from the stairwell, "Draco is awake and wishing to see his father."

Lucius was suddenly nervous and anxious all at once. "Will you go with me?" he asked Narcissa.

"Of course dear," Narcissa replied and the two of them walked upstairs.

Severus was inside Draco's bedroom, standing unobtrusively against the wall. "The exam went well," he said as Lucius and Narcissa entered.

"Father?" Draco asked. He was exhausted, as usual, but he was so excited to have his father back that for the first time in a month he felt like getting out of bed. As it was, he slowly sat up and dangled his feet over the edge. Sitting up was harder now, because his waistline had grown so much, but he managed.

"Draco, my son, I have missed you so much," Lucius said going over to the bed and gently hugging Draco, as if his son might break. Draco looked horrible; pale and thin, but bulged out at the waist, with dark circles under the eyes. "How have you been?"

"Hanging in there, I supposed," Draco replied. "I'm so glad you're here. Did mother tell you everything?"

"Yes and don't you worry, I'm going to find some way to make this work. Us Malfoys will land on our feet, we always do. You are my number one priority and within ten years, you'll be the advisor to the Minister and have Potter, er Harry, at home busy with the children."

"Thank you," Draco said, closing his eyes for a moment, due to the exhaustion, but opening them back up again, because he was so elated to see his father again. "You're not mad at me?"

"Draco, at this moment I am exceedingly happy to be reunited with you and your mother. This is a setback, I admit, but it'll be easier to rule with public opinion on our side. This may just be better in the long run. But don't worry about that now, tell me about my grandchildren. Your mother tells me there are two of them."

"Yes, two boys. Professor Snape says they are both okay, but there's not much else to tell." Draco yawned and then one of the babies kicked him in the ribs. "Ow! One of them just elbowed me!"

"May I feel?" Lucius asked, tentatively holding his arm out towards Draco's belly, waiting for permission before touching. Draco agreed and then he was pushing his hand up against Draco's distended belly, feeling the movements of his grandsons. It was absolutely amazing and suddenly it clicked for him that there were two new Malfoys on the way. Two boys would create some problems when it came to inheritance, but they would make it work and the Malfoy line would live on, which was the best possible news he could receive after his months of worry over his son's health. He had thought for a while there that Draco might die and with him, the Malfoy line would die too.

Draco yawned again and the babies were no longer moving, so Lucius said, "You're tired again my dragon. You can go back to sleep and we can talk later."

"No, stay. Tell me about everything that's happened; from Azkaban to Professor Snape picking you up."

"Alright, but if I'm going to stay here awhile, suppose I join you on that giant bed of yours?"

Draco agreed and Lucius climbed onto the other side of the bed and did what he had been longing to do for a year now: take his son into his arms and hold him. He rested his pointy chin on Draco's head and began to tell Draco about everything that had happened to him since their last parting.

* * *

Author's Note: What did you think of Lucius? Next chapter will be Harry and we'll get to see how he's doing without Draco.

Please Review!


	4. Chapter 4

While Draco was safe in France with his family and growing ever weaker, Harry was hiding out in the woods with Ron and Hermione. Ron had been splinched, which meant there was a lot of waiting and not much action. They had a horcrux, but no way to destroy it and because of Ron's injuries, they couldn't yet move. Harry was keeping guard and while he did so, he was thinking about Draco, as always. He pulled out his charmed galleon and flipped it over in his hands while he thought, but it was too late at night to send Draco a message.

Voldemort and his Death Eaters were in control of things now, but there were a few Death Eaters missing; Draco for one and Lucius for another. Months ago Harry had seen a flash from Voldemort at the Malfoy Manor where Voldemort declared Lucius a deserter, but Snape had talked Him out of ordering Lucius be killed on sight. To Harry, it was good news that there was one less Death Eater and that he wouldn't have to go up against Draco's dad, but it also caused him worry.

What if Lucius was missing because he was with Draco? Harry kept telling himself that that couldn't possibly be the case, but he had trouble putting the idea out of his head. And what about Snape, who seemed to have inside information on the Malfoys, but hadn't claimed to have current information. And just why was Voldemort in Malfoy Manor, if the Malfoys were all deserters and in hiding? He recognized the Manor from the replica the room of requirement had made for him when he proposed to Draco.

Harry sat and thought and worried over these nagging questions, but then his thoughts always came back around to Draco. How was Draco doing? How far along would Draco be with the pregnancy now? It was September, so that meant about six months. What Draco looked like swollen with his children. Draco was already beginning to show the last time he had seen Draco and with carrying twins, Draco must be huge by now; not that Harry would ever tell Draco that, because Draco didn't like being called fat. He wondered how Draco was holding up.

Harry's thoughts drifted to what his unborn sons would look like. There were two of them, so he was hoping that meant at least one of them would get Draco's grey eyes. He wouldn't mind if both boys looked like Draco, just as long as they didn't look like Lucius; he knew he was being a bit ridiculous with that desire, because Draco looked like Lucius, but that was still what he wanted. He didn't want his children to look like him; he didn't want to pass on his dad's face or his mum's eyes, because he didn't want his children to have to grow up in his shadow, always being compared to him and told they looked just like him. If he succeeded, his children would probably be in the spotlight just for being his and it would only be worse if one of them looked like him.

With all the worry Harry was experiencing lately, his thoughts inevitably turned dark and he contemplated the other reason he didn't want his children to look like him: if he lost the war, he didn't want his children to be discovered as his. If he died and Voldemort lived, the babies would be much more likely to be discovered as his if they had black hair and green eyes. There were lots of people with black hair in Britain and there were people with black hair in Draco's family, so maybe Draco could talk himself out of trouble if the babies had black hair. But although his green eyes weren't entirely unique, they were rare enough to present a complication for Draco, because as far as he knew, there was no one with green eyes in Draco's family. None of the other kids in his year had eyes like his either, so Draco might be in for some serious explaining if he turned up with a pair of kids with his eyes.

Harry still wanted his sons to take after him somewhat, but he was hoping for his more common traits, like his decidedly unpointed chin. Sure he had grown to love Draco's pointed chin over the period of time he was with Draco, but he would still rather his sons have his chin. Then he started thinking about the pictures he had of his mum and wondering if either of the boys would take on any of her features. It would be nice if they did, because then his sons would have something from him, without having something that people would automatically link to him.

Then his thoughts drifted to what Draco might be doing right now. It was late, so Draco was probably sleeping. Draco wouldn't have to keep watch like he and Hermione had to do. Ron was getting better now and was doing a share of the daytime watches, but Ron needed his sleep, so Harry took the first watch tonight and Hermione would take the second. Constant vigilance was dull, grueling work. He wished he could be safe with Draco instead.

Harry was still miffed that Draco had chosen to leave him behind. Sure he had been thinking of doing the same thing not but a week earlier and they had talked about Draco disappearing when things got bad, but he still felt a bit abandoned and lonely, even though he knew it was for the best. Now that he knew how it felt, he thought he understood what Hermione had been so upset about when she had discovered that he had been thinking about leaving Draco. Not that he would ever say that out loud, because Hermione would just throw it back in his face that this was his idea and Ron would just put all the blame on Draco. Neither of those two options was appealing to him.

Ron had been alright about Draco those last few weeks before Dumbledore's death. When Draco had been mad at Harry about the twins, Ron had been there for Harry and assured him that Draco would come around, but Ron's attitude towards Draco had changed. At first, right after Dumbledore's death, Ron had accused Draco of having something to do with it and of plotting with Snape. Harry didn't believe it for a minute, despite all of the evidence to the contrary.

In the days after Dumbledore's death, Professor Slughorn had discovered that Draco was missing. Harry knew that reason behind Draco's disappearance was that Draco was going into hiding and that Draco was not responsible for Dumbledore's death. Draco had learned of the trouble up at the school before Harry could get back to Grimmauld Place and so Draco and Narcissa had taken off and gone into hiding immediately. Although, it was a tad suspicious that Draco and Narcissa found out so quickly and Harry did wonder how they knew and if they knew in advance.

While staying in Grimmauld Place in preparation for their infiltration of the Ministry, Harry had questioned Kreacher regarding just when Draco and Narcissa had left that day. He didn't believe what Kreacher told him at first, because he didn't believe that Draco could've written the note just after Harry had left, before he and Dumbledore had even made it to the cave. But Kreacher was his house elf and as such Kreacher couldn't lie to him when directly ordered to tell the truth. Kreacher vehemently insisted that Draco and Narcissa had left within half an hour of Harry leaving.

Eventually Harry had come to accept that Draco knew that Dumbledore was going to die that night before he knew, but he still refused to place blame for the death on Draco's shoulders. Sure Draco or Narcissa had gotten word that something was going down that night and instead of trying to get help, they had chosen to go into hiding, but that didn't mean that Draco was in league with Snape or knew what Snape was going to do all along, like Ron recently suggested. Snape probably warned them that something was up right after Harry left and the Malfoys had chosen to go into hiding instead of getting in the middle. Ron called it cowardly and although Harry wished that things had played out differently and Draco had told someone like Professor McGonagall, he was also grateful that Draco hadn't put Draco and the babies in danger by getting in the middle of it and trying to stop Snape. At least Draco had kept the babies safe.

Hermione, of course, had her own hypothesis regarding Snape and Dumbledore's death. At first she had been just as shocked as the rest of them, but then Harry had divulged the details he knew regarding Draco's mission from Voldemort. They both knew that Harry had suspecting Draco in the beginning of the school year, after overhearing Draco's boasting on the train and Ron had used that to accuse Draco of being involved. Harry had countered that Draco's secret mission couldn't have had anything to do with Dumbledore and had then revealed what he did know about Draco's secret mission. He knew that Draco had turned it over to Snape and that Dumbledore had ordered Snape to do it.

Ron choose to see the worst in Draco regarding the secret mission, insisting that somehow Draco must have only told Snape and not Dumbledore and that Draco was involved in Dumbledore's death; if not the execution, then the planning. Hermione went the other way with it, and somehow twisted the facts around in her brain to come to the ridiculous conclusion that Dumbledore had ordered his own death. Dumbledore wasn't suicidal, so Harry refused to accept that possibility. Besides, Harry had been there when Dumbledore died; he knew what really happen and his two best friends did not. Draco's task wasn't to kill Dumbledore and whatever it was, Snape had chosen to kill Dumbledore instead of completing it for Draco. Sure Draco must have known something was up with Snape that last day, to trigger Draco's decision to go into hiding, but that could've been something far less culpable than knowing that Snape was actually going to kill Dumbledore—no one could have predicted that—not even Dumbledore had predicted that.

Harry didn't know what Draco's task was, but he had faith in his husband, so he believed he knew what Draco's task was not. Hermione and Ron were both wrong, so Harry put those thoughts out of his mind. At least, he tried to.

During Harry's darkest times when he was sitting up late at night guarding their camp and wearing Slytherin's locket, he would wonder if Ron was right and if Draco really had known all along what Snape was planning to do that night. He would think back to that letter Draco had written hours before Snape had killed Dumbledore and he would try to remember the exact wording Draco had used. Had Draco specifically mentioned what was going down? Had that first line stated that Draco knew in advance that Snape was going to kill Dumbledore? Or had that first line merely stated that something dangerous was happening that night?

Harry couldn't remember which it had been. He was so overwhelmed and distraught with grief at the time that he couldn't decide if he assumed the first line was referring to Dumbledore's death because it was so blatantly on his mind or if Draco specified that. And he hadn't had much time at all with the letter before it had blanked itself. Sure he had read Draco's words over and over again, but it was all a blur now and he couldn't remember. He still had the parchment, but it was blank and gave no hints regarding the true wording.

Harry chose to believe the best in Draco and that Draco didn't know what exactly was going on. Ron, however, believed the Daily Prophet. In the days after Dumbledore's death when it became apparent that Draco, one of Snape's favorite Slytherins, was missing, rumors began to circulate that Draco was involved. Not that Draco knew, but that Draco planned the entire thing; the prophet even suggested that Draco had been ordered to do it by Voldemort himself and that Draco was a Death Eater. The article was backed up by testimony from several of the sixth year Slytherins, such as Pansy Parkinson and Vincent Crabbe.

The article rang eerily true to Harry's ears. Draco had even told Harry that he had the dark mark on his arm, although Harry had never seen it. That combined with the fact that Draco knew too much and it added up to Draco being guilty. But that couldn't be the case, because whatever Draco's assignment was, Dumbledore had known. Dumbledore had _ordered_ Snape to do it himself, so there was no way Draco's task had been to kill Dumbledore. It was probably something that presented such a challenge to Snape that Snape decided it would be easier to kill Dumbledore than complete and it just worked out that with Dumbledore dead, Snape could go back to his true master.

Harry didn't see Snape with Voldemort very often in his visions, but from the ones he had seen lately, Snape seemed to be in favor with the repugnant villain. Snape had certainly moved up in the ranks and quite possibly was now Death Eater numero uno, right up there with Bellatrix Lestrange. It sickened Harry that Snape had used the murder of the one person who had trusted Snape and had vouched for Snape, even given Snape a second chance and a new life, to move up in the ranks in the eyes of a madman.

Harry shook his head and tried to think about something else, to keep himself from focusing on just how much he loathed Severus Snape.

Harry turned his thoughts back to Ron and the problems he had been having with his best friend lately. Just that afternoon, when Ron had taken a turn guarding the locket and Harry thought he would have a lie down in preparation for his nightly shift on guard duty, he had overheard Ron and Hermione talking about Draco. Hermione was on Harry's side, saying that Draco really wasn't as bad as Ron thought, but Ron was bringing up all of the bad things Draco had ever done to them. From telling on them and costing Hagrid the dragon Norbert in first year, to Buckbeat and the dementors in third year, to all the fights Harry and Draco had had fifth year.

That first part wasn't so bad and he had tried to ignore that part, opting to stay on his cot with his eyes closed and hope that sleep would come. But then Ron had started listing all of the things Draco had done wrong in Ron's eyes sixth year, from blaming Draco for Ron's poisoning to blaming Draco for Katie Bell being cursed. Then Ron brought up the time Draco had been mad at Harry when Draco had just found out about the twins. After that Ron went off on Draco for abandoning Harry to go into hiding.

At that point Harry was sure the next words out of Ron's mouth were going to be that Draco had been involved in Dumbledore's death, so he had gotten up and shouted at Ron to shut up and that Ron didn't know what Ron was talking about. Draco hadn't been involved with any of those things and Draco had a right to be upset after being told of the twins. Ron had shouted back that Harry was married to a Death Eater and the children would turn into snobby pureblood scum, just like Lucius and that Harry should leave Draco and take the children. Harry had returned with that Draco was nothing like Lucius and he was going to stick by his husband. Ron had laughed at that and accused Draco of abandoning Harry after Dumbledore's death, again. Harry had returned with Draco was only doing what Draco knew Harry wanted.

Ron and Harry would've gone on shouting at each other and arguing, but Hermione got in the middle of them and told them to stop it. She sent Ron outside, to guard the tent, and sent Harry back inside. Hermione had stayed with Harry and tried to calm him down and assure him that Draco was a good person and that Ronald didn't know what Ron was talking about. He had thanked her and tried to sleep, but by then it was too late and he couldn't get the thoughts out of his head; he kept hearing Ron's accusations against Draco over and over again in his head. Had Draco been involved with the necklace and the poisoned mead?

Harry wished he could ask his husband about it, but then he also wanted to trust his husband and believe that Draco had only been up to being concerned about Narcissa. So he forced the negative thoughts out of his mind, shifted his focus to Draco, and wondered who was taking care of Draco medically now that Snape wasn't in the picture.

It had to be Narcissa who was giving Draco his regular exams. Snape had trained Narcissa to be able to cast all of the necessary diagnostic charms and as long as nothing went wrong, Narcissa probably had the prenatal care stuff down. He wondered if Narcissa would know how to deliver the babies when the time came, but then Narcissa had given birth once herself, so she should have a general idea what to do. The details of a Peverell delivery were slightly different from a typical birth by a female, but from what he read in the book on Peverell pregnancies, the birthing process wasn't that complicated or dangerous. Narcissa could probably pick up everything she needed to know by reading a medical book on the subject and she would definitely have all of the supplies she would need, because Snape had ordered them and stored them with the other supplies.

Draco and Narcissa must've taken all of the supplies for the baby with them when they went into hiding hours before Dumbledore's death. Harry hadn't gotten to check out the baby stuff like he was planning, but when he, Ron, and Hermione had first gone back to Grimmauld Place, one of the first things he did was look through the house. There was no evidence that Narcissa had been living there and the room Draco had claimed would be turned into the nursery still had the bunk beds up, even though he thought Draco had said that the bunk beds had been taken down. He didn't like to think that Draco had lied to him, so he decided that he must be remembering it wrong and what Draco really said was that the bunk beds _will_ be torn down.

Then Harry began to think of Dumbledore and Snape; he couldn't quite understand how Snape had fooled Dumbledore all these years. Yes, there was what Harry had learned from Professor Trelawney about Snape being the one to overhear the prophecy and Dumbledore had subsequently claimed that it was Snape's regret over telling Voldemort that had brought Snape over to Dumbledore's side. But it was a lie and Snape was playing the old man all along and Dumbledore should've seen it. Maybe Dumbledore was growing senile, like Draco claimed.

The memories of Draco at Grimmauld Place were the best and the worst for Harry. At the time Harry had been so happy; the hours leading up to his wedding to Draco and the hours after the wedding had all been spent there. Their honeymoon, if however short, had seemed so magical. He had had Draco and he had felt like Draco was his, had belonged to him, and not even the war could tear them apart. But that had ended oh so very quickly when reality set in and Draco had vanished, leaving him only a note.

They had had a goodbye, when Harry had thought there was a chance that he wouldn't survive the night of horcrux searching with Dumbledore. He had told Draco goodbye and that he loved Draco. Draco had even said it back, which after all that time it took Draco to say it in the first place, was still somewhat hard for Harry to believe. Harry clung to those words in the aftermath of Dumbledore's death; at least he still had Draco out there somewhere safe and waiting for him. As soon as this was all over, he would be reunited with his husband. He just hoped that would be before the babies were born.

Harry had thought that there was a chance he would miss the births of his sons. He might be out on a horcrux hunt and come back to find Draco sitting up in bed with a newborn in each arm. But with the way things were now, he might very well miss a lot more than just the births. He wouldn't be able to hold or even see his sons until Voldemort was dead. That could take years. What if it took another two years and his sons were two years old by the time he could finally meet them? What if it was longer and his sons asked him where he'd been all this time? Or what if he died and Draco was left to be a single dad, while Voldemort took over the world?

Of course Harry still wanted Draco and the boys to escape Voldemort and take off to the other side of the world. He imagined that Draco would find a pureblood witch to pretend to be the birth mother; Draco would probably arrange phony marriage documents to prove it and then arrange a divorce, so that the witch could go on with her life. Draco would tear up their wedding certificate, the one that said Harry and Draco were married in June of nineteen ninety-seven. He would be little more than a pile of ashes and memories while Draco and the boys would move on with their lives. Would Draco find someone else to love? A new boyfriend or worse, a new husband, and forget all about Harry? Would Draco ever tell their boys the truth of their parentage? Or would his sons grow up thinking they were someone else's kids?

Harry knew it was for the best if Draco and his sons moved on with their lives; he even wanted them too. But there was just something about thinking about it that felt like someone was driving a stake through his heart.

He couldn't think about it, so he switched to thoughts of how he was going to continue to keep knowledge of his and Draco's relationship and the pregnancy from Voldemort. Now that Dumbledore was dead, only a handful of people knew the truth. Ron, Hermione, Draco, and Narcissa all were gifted occlumens; even Snape was gifted at occlumency. Of the people who knew, Snape was the biggest concern, because Harry had no way of telling if Snape would keep their secret.

At first after Dumbledore's death, Harry had been worried that Snape would spill the secret about Draco and the babies directly to Voldemort, in order to gain prestige. But for whatever reason, Harry could find no evidence that Snape had told. In the glimpses he had inside Voldemort's head, there was not one indication that Voldemort knew about Draco. There was not one mention of Draco or the babies in the news or on the wizard wireless. Harry didn't know why Snape was protecting Draco and the babies, but he was convinced that Snape was.

When Harry thought about it, he could only come up with one reason Snape might have for protecting Draco. Snape must still be under the influence of the two unbreakable vows Snape had sworn to protect Draco and the babies. Narcissa had asked Snape for an unbreakable vow to protect Draco before the beginning of sixth year and Draco had asked Snape for an unbreakable vow to protect the babies when Snape had agreed to be Draco's healer. There was no reason to believe the unbreakable vow to protect the babies wasn't still in effect and although he didn't know the exact wording of the first vow, he was convinced that it too must be in effect. Snape was in all likelihood bound upon penalty of death from exposing Draco and the babies and so Snape wasn't a threat to their safety.

That left Harry himself as the biggest threat to the safety of his own family. Harry was still a mediocre occlumens at best and with Voldemort being an extremely gifted legilimens, if Voldemort wanted to wring information out of him, Voldemort could probably do so. But he was not going to take Voldemort lying down; he was going to fight back and keep Voldemort too busy to break through his inadequate occlumency shield. And he was going to prepare for that battle by building up his occlumency shields.

Harry had every hope that by the time he actually confronted Voldemort again, he would be at least a halfway decent occlumens. He was practicing occlumency every day that he was free to do so. During a lot of the time he had spent at Grimmauld Place, he was too busy planning the raid on the Ministry, but when he had the time, he would practice his occlumency. And now that they were waiting with no real plan to work on, he had a lot more time.

Harry would meditate with Ron and run through mind clearing exercises with Hermione. Hermione even was trying her hand at legilimency; she was not nearly as good at it as Draco was, but she was getting there. But then Harry had already developed a thick enough shield to foil Draco's attempts and Hermione's attempts were weaker than Draco's, so Harry had no real challenge to his occlumency shields. He had no way of knowing if he was actually improving or if he just thought he was improving. Well no way except he was getting slightly better at shutting down his connection to Voldemort when it flared up. He always wanted to look and see what Voldemort was up to, to look for clues that Voldemort had heard something about Draco, so he wasn't so good at blocking the visions, but the strong feelings he'd get from Voldemort were another story. He had no reason to want to feel what Voldemort was feeling and he was now fairly proficient at shutting Voldemort out the moment the feelings started to transfer across.

And so Harry didn't know for certain that his occlumency was improving, but he thought and hoped it was. And on long nights like this when he was out in the forest on guard duty with nothing to do but listen to his thoughts and stare out into the dark, he would practice meditating and clearing his mind, trying to build his occlumency shield just a bit thicker, in hopes that when the time came, he really would be able to keep Draco and the babies safe.

* * *

Author's Notes: So there's what's going on in Harry's mind and what has changed from the original; everything not mentioned went down just the same as Rowling wrote it.

That pretty much covers everything that needs to happen before the births of the twins, so next chapter will skip ahead to the big day. For those of you who have been concerned over Draco's health in Harry's absence, I don't think Draco's health ever had a chance of being in jeopardy. Muggles live without magic, so even if his magic was completely drained, Draco would survive. The babies, however, are another story. They need the magic to support the unnatural pregnancy and when the magic runs out, the babies will come out. Whether the pregnancy is far enough along for the babies to survive on their own is the question. Any thoughts?

Please Review!


	5. Chapter 5

It was Monday November thirtieth and the Malfoy family was barely starting to think about preparing for Christmas. Just that morning Narcissa had instructed the house elves to bring down all the old decorations that had been stored in the attic by Lucius' parents when they had lived here. The decorations were all old, so Narcissa was sorting through them to see which ones were still good. She had talked her mother Druella into helping her, although Druella didn't help much; mostly Druella sat in her chair and told her what was wrong with wizarding society these days.

Lucius was very much aware of the fact that he couldn't go out and buy his family gifts this year like he normally did, so when Narcissa pulled out the decorations, he pulled out a set of books on how to make gifts. He spent the morning sorting through the books and eliminating most of them, based on the fact that he didn't have access to the proper supplies. The transfigurations gift book he eliminated just because using transfigured items was a low class thing to do. Even if he was making the gift himself, he refused to sink that low; plus, how many transfigured crystal goblets did one really need? There was a very large set of real crystal here at the villa, left over from his mother.

Finally, just before lunch, Lucius decided on the woodworking gift book, because it was full of spells and directions for making furniture out of wood, including a cradle, which would be useful given that Draco was due to deliver a week before Christmas; Narcissa had ordered two basinets, but all Malfoy infants had a hand carved antique magic cradle that rocked and soothed the young heir as needed. But Draco wasn't using the Malfoy cradle or any of the other Malfoy furniture, because Draco was having two babies, not the one baby Malfoys typically had. And it was always nice to have a spare cradle in the room, so he thought he might make a pair.

When the antique clock struck noon, the family sat down to a simple meal of soup, cheese, and bread. The soup was tomato, basil, and cream, made from jarred tomatoes, because the garden had long since stopped producing fresh tomatoes. The cheese and cream were from the dairy cows on the property and the bread was made using wheat from their storeroom. They were all sick of it and longed for the days when they still had fresh grapes, even though they had all been sick to death of grapes by the time they had used the last of them. Now the only grape products they had were the wine and the grape preserves.

After lunch the family gathered in Draco's bedroom to wait for Draco to wake up. Draco was now very heavily pregnant and only woke up to eat, before falling right back to sleep. And since that was the case, the only times the family could communicate with him were meal times, which was why they always made an effort to gather in Draco's room while he ate. That and they thought it made Draco feel better to have his family around him.

A house elf delivered a tray of the same tomato soup and cheese the family had just finished eating, along with a bowl of elf made ice cream and a large glass of whole milk. Ice cream had more calories in it than most of the other foods the family had on hand and Draco really needed the extra calories due to his pregnancy, so the family was saving all of the ice cream for him. Narcissa went over to Draco's bed and gently stroked his face in an effort to wake him up and said, "Wake up Dragon, it's time for lunch."

Draco woke up, but was still groggy. He had been tired the entire time he had been at the villa, but it had been so bad the last three months that he remembered very little of it. There was pain and discomfort from having his abdomen swollen to the size of a beach ball and a burning in his arm when the Dark Lord called, sleeping, and eating. If he was lucky Mother and a house elf would clean him and help him brush his teeth. But mostly, he had slept away the last three months.

Seeing his family gathered around him, Draco smiled a small smile and then sat up to eat in his bed. When he was finished, he lay back down and his mother said, "I'm just going to cast the usual spells and then you can go back to sleep."

Draco nodded and Narcissa began to cast. She checked Draco once a day now, right after lunch, but didn't go through the entire list of diagnostic spells. The full list was saved for the weekly visit from Severus, but Severus couldn't come every day. At this advanced stage in his pregnancy, Draco could go into labor at any time and Severus would need as much warning as possible. Plus the last few weeks were the most risky as Draco's body struggled to support two ever growing babies; the last thing they wanted was for something to go wrong at the end.

Thus Narcissa checked the health of each baby, making sure they were getting enough oxygen and nutrients and their waste products were being properly filtered out by Draco's body. Then she did the spell that would determine if Draco's body was preparing to go into labor. Draco wasn't in labor yet, as evidenced by the fact that the second cervix on his considerable baby bulge was not moving, but the body would start preparing for labor hours or even a full day before labor started.

The family let out a collective gasp as they watched the results of the labor detecting spell, because for the first time, it indicated that Draco was indeed going into labor.

"I'll fire call Severus," Lucius announced, standing up and striding quickly out of the room.

"Draco, darling, your body is preparing for labor. You'll be in labor soon," Narcissa told her son.

Draco heard what his mother said, even though he had been about to drift off to sleep again. The shock of the news was just enough to have him opening his eyes and looking up at his mother again. He was too tired to feel excited or nervous and it just barely occurred to him that this meant he would be in pain soon. "Pain potion?" he asked in a rough voice; he hadn't said much in months and his voice was rough from disuse.

"Yes dear, I'll get out the potions and find the pain one," Narcissa said, squeezing Draco's hand gently before turning to the large desk in Draco's room where Severus had left all of the potions. She moved the rack over to Draco's nightstand and pulled out a long lasting pain potion, which she fed to Draco. It wasn't the strongest one, but then Draco wasn't in any actual pain yet and there was no telling exactly when the pain would start. "Now you just close your eyes and try to get some rest. You'll wake up when it's time."

Draco did as instructed and was quickly back asleep, even though he could hear his mother and grandmother talking in the background.

Narcissa and Druella whispered excitedly as they went about turning Draco's room from a bedroom into a delivery room. They got out all of the birthing supplies, such as umbilical cord clamps and scissors, soft baby blankets and fresh sheets for Draco's bed. Then they gathered items for cleaning the babies, such as two suction bulbs to clear the airways and a baby tub filled with warm soapy water and spelled to stay the perfect temperature. Then there was a nappy bag already packed with cloth nappies, undershirts, nightgowns, and booties. Finally they pulled out two basinets, which Draco had insisted he didn't need, but Narcissa had ordered anyway.

Narcissa was just spelling the sheets underneath Draco to switch with the fresh set of sheets when Lucius came back in, and announced, "Severus is letting the Carrows know that they need to cover for him for a few days and then he'll be right over."

"Good. Now all we can do is wait," Narcissa said, folding the top sheet over and tucking it under Draco's hips, so that it sat low on Draco's waist, under the huge baby mound.

Draco was lying on his side with a pillow propped under his belly, as usual, because the babies were far too large for him to be comfortable lying on his back. Narcissa pulled up a chair next to Draco's bed and sat to watch the second cervix for any signs of movement. Lucius sat down too, next to Druella, and they all waited.

It was an hour before Severus arrived and began casting the full regiment of diagnostic spells. When he was done, he stood back and announced, "All three of them are in good health and Draco's body is indeed preparing to go into labor."

There were a few grateful comments from Lucius and Narcissa directed at Severus and then Severus went and double checked all of Narcissa's preparations. The adults changed into clean muggle clothes, in case something went wrong. Then there was nothing else to do but to wait. The four adults had dinner in shifts, Severus and Lucius going to the dining room first to eat, while Narcissa and Druella sat and watched Draco. Then Severus and Lucius watched Draco, while Narcissa and Druella went to eat. No one bothered to wake Draco and disturb his peaceful slumber for one last meal, because the last meal always came up during labor anyhow. Instead Narcissa called the house elves and informed them that Draco wouldn't be eating for the time being.

It was seven fifty-two in the evening when Draco's cervix started twitching. Draco didn't wake up, but Severus, who was watching over Draco at the time, noticed it. Draco slept for an hour more before the pain woke him up; Severus gave the boy a stronger pain potion and Draco went back to sleep. Draco's water broke soon after, sending a flood of liquid out of the opening second cervix. Severus vanished the fluid and then vanished fluid again half an hour later when the second water broke, since there were two babies. The next time Draco stirred it was to vomit, which Severus also vanished, before giving Draco a glass of milk with the usual anti-nausea tea mixed in. Draco didn't wake again until midnight, when his cervix was halfway dilated. Again Severus gave him a pain potion and again Draco went back to sleep.

At three in the morning, December first, Draco woke up again in excruciating pain. Severus gave him yet another pain potion, this one a non-drowsy one, and said, "You need to stay awake this time Draco; you're dilated and it's time to push."

Draco didn't want to stay awake and he didn't want to push. He was exhausted and still in pain, despite the pain potion taking the edge off. All he wanted to do was close his eyes and sleep through his discomfort. He closed his eyes, but the pain was too much for him to sleep and Professor Snape was there telling him he needed to push. Father and Mother were there too, whispering comforting words into his ear and Grandmother Druella was there in the background, urging him along.

"Why?" Draco wondered. If he just went back to sleep, wouldn't his cervix open up wide enough that he wouldn't need to push? Wasn't that what the book on Peverell pregnancies said?

"Because there are two babies Draco and we need to get the first one out sooner, so the second one does not get distressed," Severus answered. "Now push and help the first baby line up for me."

Draco's eyes didn't open, but he did push down like he was taking a shit, squeezing whoever's hand who was holding his hand as he did so.

"Very good Draco; I can see a head. It's covered in light colored hair," Severus said. There was a small amount of Draco's blood smeared on the head, so he couldn't be sure of the color, but he thought the baby probably had Draco's blond hair. Draco's cervix was open so wide that before the push Severus had been able to see inside the uterus and had seen pale skin and tiny moving limbs, but the first baby wasn't quite in the right position to come out before and now he was. "Go ahead and push again when you're ready."

It took a lot of coaching, but Draco did push, push again, and push quite a few more times after that. And then the head was out and Severus reached inside Draco and pulled on the tiny shoulder as he supported the tiny head. With the next contraction the first baby came free and Severus was clamping and cutting the cord, wrapping the baby in a blanket, and handing the crying baby off to Narcissa to clean. "It's a boy," Severus announced over the din of baby wails, even though everyone in the room already knew that Draco was expecting two boys.

While Severus was tending to Draco and preparing for the second birth, Narcissa had taken the baby over to the desk and was suctioning all of the mucus from his nose. He wiggled and squirmed and announced his complaint to the world with his wailing cry. Then she took him over to the tub and bathed him with her mother's help. She dressed her grandson, wrapped him up in a clean blanket, and finally he calmed down and his little cries tapered out. She brought the quiet baby back over to Draco's bedside for her son to see.

"Draco sweetie, he's gorgeous, really. He's got your hair," Narcissa said.

Draco opened his eyes and looked at the little bundle in his mother's arms. Something instantly clicked in his brain and for the first time in months, he felt something other than tired; he felt love. He wanted to reach out and take his son, but Professor Snape was there trying to get his attention too.

"Draco, I need to reach in and get the second baby out now; he's not doing so well in there," Severus said seriously. The second baby had never been as big or as healthy as the first and now the diagnostic spells were showing signs of stress.

Draco reached out and stroked the little cheek of his first born son and said to Professor Snape, "Go ahead."

Severus reached in with one hand and pulled out the second baby. "Pass me a suction bulb," he said.

Lucius passed Severus the clean suction bulb and Severus began suctioning the clogged nose, before even bothering to cut the cord. Unlike the first baby, this baby wasn't crying and his airways were fairly blocked. It took a minute for Severus to free both nostrils of debris, but even when the airways were clear the baby still wasn't breathing. He opened the mouth and checked to make sure the throat was clear, which it was. And although the baby was squirming in Severus' hands, the baby still wasn't breathing. Severus rubbed the little back and urged the little guy to breathe, but the baby didn't breathe.

"He's not breathing. When I cut the cord we need to rush him off to a muggle hospital immediately. Lucius, you and Narcissa take the baby and Druella and I will stay with Draco and the other baby," Severus instructed.

They had been going over emergency plans for months now, Severus having long since decided that the best course of action should something go wrong was to seek out a muggle hospital to help. St. Mungo's would be best, if it weren't for the fact that Death Eaters were in control of the facility. And since they couldn't go there, the only alternative was to seek out help from muggles. Muggles had healers too and regularly used muggle means to save lives and deliver healthy babies. Thus Lucius and Narcissa would take the baby to a muggle hospital to see if the muggles could save him, while Severus and Druella would stay and make sure Draco and the first baby were alright.

At Severus' words, Draco turned his attention from his first beautiful blond baby boy to his second baby boy. The second one was tiny compared to the first and had tufts of wet black hair. His face looked puffy, but his features seemed distinctly Malfoy; Draco could distinguish the pointy chin and thin nose. He instantly loved this baby just as much as the first and his heart clenched to know that there was something wrong with his son. He wanted so much to reach out and take his baby into his arms, but he knew the baby needed medical attention. He had not been awake much in the past months, but his mother had told him about the emergency plan of asking for help from the muggles should something go wrong; they could always obliviate or confound the muggles later.

Severus clamped and cut the cord, before depositing the baby into a blanket in Narcissa's arms. Narcissa took the baby to the nearest muggle hospital via a side along and Lucius followed her, apparating separately. Once they were gone, Severus turned back to Draco, who still had two placentas to pass and was very weak. Severus gave Draco a stronger pain potion, one with a drowsy side effect, now that Draco was no longer needed to push. Then he gave Draco a strengthening potion and told his patient to go back to sleep.

Druella was watching the first baby sleeping in one of the basinets. The little guy, like his father, was all tuckered out.

Draco was worried sick about his second son, who he hadn't gotten a chance to hold and hadn't even touched. He tried to recall the image of that little face, but then the potions Severus had given him began to take effect and he was pulled instantly into a dreamless sleep.

While Draco was asleep, Severus delivered both placentas and observed as the second cervix retracted back down, closing the opening, before disappearing altogether. He cleaned his sleeping patient and pulled the covers over Draco's chest.

* * *

As Narcissa walked towards the deserted muggle emergency room in the middle of the night, carrying her still not breathing grandson in her arms and followed closely by her husband, she quickly went over the lie they would tell in her mind. She couldn't just tell the muggles that her son had given birth to this little boy, because muggle men couldn't give birth. Therefore this baby had come from her son's girlfriend and her son was at home helping to tend to the new mother and the first baby.

Severus had informed Narcissa that muggles were in the practice of insisting on seeing the actual mother, but Narcissa and Lucius didn't have a mother at home they could bring in to prove their point. Instead they would insist that the mother was refusing to come in for treatment, because she didn't want her family to find out she had even had a baby. The muggles would call their muggle-Aurors in and check out their story, but not before they treated the baby. Once the baby was healthy, Lucius would obliviate and confound muggles as necessary, and they would apparate away with the baby.

Lucius and Narcissa rounded the corner and found themselves at the entrance to the muggle hospital, which was guarded by a muggle-Auror. "We have an emergency! The baby isn't breathing!" Lucius exclaimed in French.

"Alright, we'll get you right inside and get the baby some help. How old is he?" the muggle-Auror asked, also in French, leading them into the muggle facility.

"Just born; a home birth. Our son's at home with the mother and we brought in our grandson," Narcissa said, handing the tiny baby over to a muggle-mediwizard.

The muggles took over from there and went right to work on the baby, who was now turning blue and no longer moving. They shoved a tube of some sort down the baby's throat and hooked wires and monitors up to the baby. Narcissa watched from a distance as another muggle and the original muggle-Auror asked them questions, which Lucius answered. Lucius was better at lying seamlessly than Narcissa, so while she was going over the story in her head, he took over and spoke to the muggles.

"What's the mother's name?" the muggle-Auror asked, writing down notes on a pad of muggle-parchment with a stick instead of a quill.

"Hermione Granger, but she didn't even tell her parents she was pregnant and refused to let us tell them. She ran away from them months ago and has been staying with us. She doesn't want the babies. She said she'd give them to our son and then go back to her parents like nothing ever happened, but the second one is so tiny and he wasn't breathing," Lucius answered.

The Malfoys were not aware of the fact that Hermione had altered her parents' memories or sent them to Australia; they knew only that Hermione had been in hiding and not seen her parents in months. Therefore if the muggles tried to check out their story, the Malfoys thought they would turn up at the Granger residence, and the Grangers would confirm that their daughter ran away. As it was, in the days to come, the muggles would investigate the Grangers and find out from neighbors that the Granger girl hadn't been seen in months and the parents had moved out of the country, so there was no one else to question.

"Two babies you say? Where's the other one?" the muggle-Auror asked.

"At home with my son and my wife's mother. They are looking after the first baby and his girlfriend," Lucius answered, as Narcissa eyes remained fixed on their grandson in muggle care. He hated that they had to turn to muggles for something, but he wasn't too proud to ask for help even from filthy muggles when it came to saving his grandson's life.

"What condition is the first baby in?" the muggle woman standing next to the muggle-Auror asked, also in French. This woman had a uniform on that indicated she worked at the muggle-hospital, but Lucius didn't know what her job was; her name tag just read Suzette.

"He was breathing and much bigger than the second one. The pregnancy was only two weeks shy of full term and he looked like a full term baby," Lucius answered.

"What color was his skin?" Muggle- Suzette asked.

"Pink. He had my son's fair complexion; blond hair," Lucius answered, wondering what the muggle was getting at.

"Good, that means he is likely in good health, but we'll still need you to bring the first baby, your son, and the mother in for a check-up," Muggle-Suzette replied.

"Alright, we'll go back for them when you've sorted out my grandson. Is he breathing? What's happening with all those tubes and wires?" Lucius asked.

Of course they couldn't bring in a non-existent mother, but they might be able to bring their son and other grandson in once Draco was healed up and it was no longer evident that he had just given birth; that would mean giving Draco time to rest, but they could stall the muggles for now. Although, it would be safer for Draco and the first baby if they could get this baby out of the muggle hospital without forcing them to leave the safety of the Fidelius protected villa.

"The baby is connected to a machine that is breathing for him. His heart rate is good and his coloration is turning back to normal. He is very small and sometimes the preterm babies like him just need a little extra help breathing for a while. The nurse is cleaning him up a bit. Once we get finished with our questions, the doctors will move him to the NICU, where he'll be closely monitored and you and your wife can stay with him."

"Alright," Lucius agreed, not knowing what a nickyou was, but relieved to know the baby was going to live. "So he's going to live, correct?"

"Yes sir, the baby will most likely be fine," Muggle-Suzette assured them.

"Great," Lucius replied.

"Now what is your son's name?" the muggle-Auror asked.

"Drake Malcolm," Lucius lied. They didn't want this visit getting back to Death Eaters or Aurors, who were both looking for them. And muggles tended to ask for ID cards, so he had already made up a set of cards for the family with the last name Malcolm.

"And your name and your wife's name?" the muggle-Auror asked, writing in his muggle-pad again.

"Lawrence and Nancy Malcolm," Lucius lied again. It was going to be difficult to remember to respond to the fake names, but they would get used to it or confound the muggles. They couldn't give their real names, because their real names were too unique and might be recognized by wizards.

"And where do you live?" the muggle-Auror asked.

Lucius gave an address to a guesthouse that was part of the estate of their French villa, but not under the fidelius charm. The guesthouse was empty, so the muggles wouldn't find anything there and they wouldn't even realized that a large chunk of land was missing next to it. Only people like Lucius who knew that the villa had been next to that guesthouse would know; in fact, that guesthouse was how Lucius knew he was in the right area when he had been looking for his family. Once he located the guesthouse, he found the closest place to hide nearby, which happened to be the caves.

There were a few more questions about the details regarding the birth, which Lucius answered, telling the truth where applicable and lying when it was something Peverell specific. The muggle-Auror thanked them for their cooperation and muggle-Suzette led them over to the muggle-team who had worked on their grandson; their grandson was now in a clear muggle-box on top of a metal cart on wheels. Together the team of muggles, pushing the baby in the muggle-contraption, and the Malfoys walked through the muggle-hospital until they reached a door labeled NICU. They entered a large room full of muggle-medi-witches and babies in muggle-boxes on wheels.

When they stopped, the muggles set up their grandson's muggle-box next to all the other muggle-boxes and went about moving wires and cords and things. One of the muggles placed a sign on their grandson's box which read, "Baby Boy Malcolm."

After fifteen minutes, one of the muggles in a white lab coat who had been looking over paperwork said in French, "Hello, I'm Dr. Martin and your little guy here is going to be alright. We've got him breathing with the help of a respirator. We'll monitor him closely for the next day or so, until we can get him breathing on his own. Since he was only two weeks early, he is quite small for his gestational age. That is probably owing to the fact that he was a twin and the other baby was getting more of the nutrients. Other than his difficulty breathing and his low birth weight, he's in good health and will survive. In all likelihood he will be released in a week or so."

"That's great! Thank you sir." Narcissa's French wasn't as good as her husband's, because unlike Lucius, she hadn't been taking holidays in France since childhood. She had mainly learned French after marrying Lucius. Spending summers with Lucius and the rest of the Malfoy family here at the villa had forced her to learn.

"Yes, we are indebted to you for saving our grandson," Lucius agreed.

"But, we do have a few other concerns, because he has a few birth defects. Is there any history of birth defects in your family?" muggle-Dr. Martin asked.

"No, but he looks fine," Lucius insisted. Other than the fact that the baby was tiny and not breathing, he hadn't noticed any abnormalities.

"His left leg is thinner than the right one and the lower leg is bent, or bowed out more than the right one. The left foot is also turned in, or pigeon toed. We see both in a lot of babies and bowed legs often straighten themselves out all on their own, but if it's still bowed when he's a toddler, then we'll put a brace on the leg that will encourage it to grow straight. We don't have a way to make the left leg the same size as the right, so all we can do is hope that fixes itself."

"Alright," Narcissa agreed. A bent and somewhat thin leg was something that St. Mungo's could easily fix once the war was over and the baby could receive proper wizarding medical care. As long as the muggles didn't want to do anything about it now, it wasn't a problem.

"The pigeon toe is more of a concern right now. What we like to do is put on a special pair of shoes with a bar in between them, connecting them so that the feet are held outward. It encourages the feet to grow further out, instead of in, and after a few years the problem is corrected. It's best to start sooner rather than later with the pigeon toe."

"Um, sorry Doctor Martin, but we'd prefer to hold off on that just a bit; we haven't had a chance to confer with our son," Lucius said, interrupting the muggle-healer, because he didn't want his grandson to suffer through unnecessary muggle treatments.

"Well he is a bit small, so we would wait until he gets up to seven pounds before we'd fit him with a pair of shoe braces."

"How much does he weigh now?" Narcissa asked.

"Two pounds and fourteen ounces. But there is one other birth defect I need to talk to you about."

"Oh my," Narcissa replied concerned.

"Another one?" Lucius asked. Weren't three enough? Potter must have really bad genes, because the Malfoys had never had a birth defect in the family.

"Yes and this is a somewhat sensitive matter. You see, his penis appears to be misshapen; it's as thick as his limbs; thicker in fact then the left leg. For a baby with his small size, the penis should be correspondingly small. At this point we're not positive it's functional, but if he is indeed able to urinate out of it, well then we would leave it as is until he's older. We can send him out to a specialist, but I've seen genital birth defects before and if possible, they prefer to wait until the children are older to operate; generally around the age of twelve or thirteen, when puberty hits," Dr. Martin said.

Narcissa looked over at the baby in the incubator, but there was a nappy covering the genitals. The nappy had quite a bulge, but it wasn't charmed, so that was to be expected and she wasn't so sure there was anything wrong with the little guy's wee-wee. She had seen the baby naked after birth and she hadn't noticed anything unusual then, but she was concentrating on getting the him help and the fact that he wasn't breathing, so she could've missed it.

"Um, could I see what you are talking about?" Narcissa asked.

Dr. Martin agreed and ordered a muggle lady to show them. The muggle had on gloves when she reached into the incubator and unfastened the nappy. She let Lucius and Narcissa have a look inside the nappy, before closing it back up. She had trouble closing it, despite the fact that it looked far too large for the tiny baby, because it wasn't designed to fit a penis of that size.

"With all due respect healer, but it looks fine to me. My son's was the same when he was born and he turned out just fine; no surgery and no complaints from the ladies," Narcissa said.

"Yes, our son was the same way. When he was born, my mother assured me that I looked the same and she said that my father had had the same before me. No surgeries needed and no complaints regarding usage," Lucius confirmed.

"Well it's certainly possible that he'll grow into it. Right now with it being thicker than the left leg and down to his knees in length, it seems hard to believe that he'll be able to walk like that. But hopefully his legs will grow and his penis won't. It might all even out and like you said, he might just be fine without surgery," Dr. Martin conceded.

"Doctor, when do you think we'll be able to take our grandson home?" Lucius asked.

"He's almost at three pounds; once we get him up to three pounds and get him breathing on his own we can downgrade him from critical status and move him over to the SCBU. Right now he's in the NICU, which is the highest level of critical care we have, but if he holds stable for the next few hours and if he urinates successfully, we'll move him down to the NHDU, which is an intermediate level of care. Then it's SCBU and then he can go home. He'll have to be seen regularly once he's released and once he makes it up to seven pounds you'll have to bring him in for the shoe braces. And there will be more follow ups regarding the bowed leg and the over-sized genitalia later on. Understand everything alright?"

Lucius and Narcissa did not in fact understand, especially the abbreviated terms, but they didn't want to point out how little they knew of muggles, so they nodded their heads. The healer left and a muggle-medi-witch pulled up two chairs for them to sit in. They sat and waited and the muggle woman introduced herself, in French of course, as their nurse. She said she was assigned to look after only one baby and that was their grandson for the next two hours. If he stayed stable, they would downgrade his status and move him over to the next ward, where there were two babies per nurse.

Then the muggle-medi-witch explained that the little guy was being fed continuously through a tube that went down his throat, directly to his stomach. It was a bit disturbing, but if it was the best muggles could do then they had no choice, so Narcissa and Lucius sat there and watched their grandson sleep. After an hour, the little guy proved that his penis was functional by urinating. Since the nappy didn't fit right, the stream of urine didn't stay in the nappy; there wasn't much of it, but the thin stream shot up his abdomen and then dribbled onto the blankets in the incubator.

The muggle-nurse was pleased with her patient, despite the mess she had to clean up. The baby needed a new blanket and nappy and she had to wipe off his belly too, but she did it all the while saying silly things in French like, "Oh what a good boy you are. You made such a good little tinkle. I bet your grandma and grandpa are so proud of you."

Lucius and Narcissa were proud of the small feat, even if they weren't sure why the muggle-nurse was calling it a tinkle.

After two hours the baby was moved down the hall, to another large room and assigned to another French speaking muggle-nurse. Once Narcissa and the baby were settled into the new room, Lucius rose to his feet and said in English, "I'm going to go home and inform our son that everything is alright."

"Get some rest and come back in the morning; we can take shifts watching our grandson," Narcissa replied, also in English.

Lucius agreed and then walked out of the hospital and far enough down the street that there were no muggles in sight. He apparated into Draco's room in the villa, thankful that Severus had finally trusted him enough to pass him a scrap of parchment with the secret. He had set fire to the parchment after reading it, to ensure that their hideout remained a secret.

Draco was asleep and Druella had long since fallen asleep in her chair. The first baby, the larger blond one, was sleeping in Severus' arms. Severus was the only one in the room awake and was watching them all.

"Well? What news have you?" Severus asked.

"The second baby is alive and breathing with the help of some muggle contraption. The muggles said they might be able to release him in a week or so. Narcissa is guarding him."

"Excellent."

"Narcissa suggested that I get some rest and perhaps it would be prudent for you to get some as well."

"Yes, perhaps I'll take the baby over to the nursery and have a lie down on the spare bed in there."

"Shouldn't you leave the baby with Draco?"

"He's out on pain potions. When this little guy needed a feed I had to hold him up to Draco's chest and help him latch on; Draco just slept right through it."

"Well in that case maybe it would be better for you to take the baby to the nursery," Lucius agreed. "And I'll just levitate my mother-in-law off to her own bed."

And so Lucius levitated Druella down the hall to her bed, before lying down on the bed he shared with Narcissa. Severus took the first baby to the nursery in the next room over and sat himself down in the rocking chair while he looked at the beautiful face. He couldn't be sure, because the features were so tiny, but he saw a distinct resemblance to Lily. The second baby had Harry's black hair and resembled Draco, but this first one had Draco's blond hair and looked like Lily. He was tired, but this was the first time in sixteen years that he had seen those lips, forehead, and cheeks in the living flesh and not just in a picture. He couldn't be sure about the nose, because it was too small, but maybe even the nose might be Lily's nose.

Severus was absolutely enthralled with the tiny image of Lily to the point where he couldn't bear to put the baby down. He kept yearning for those eyes to open and look at him again. When the baby had woken up for his first feed, he had opened his eyes and Severus had been hooked instantly. The eyes weren't green, but nor were they blue, and they were too dark to be Draco's grey eyes. This baby had dark grey eyes that were a shade that only a baby's eyes could be. There was absolutely no color one way or another, except for dark grey. If either parent had had brown eyes, he would've thought that the baby's eyes would be brown. But the darkest eye color in the family was Harry's green eyes and so Severus was hopeful that this baby might just have Lily's green eyes.

Eventually Severus' eyes closed of their own accord and he fell asleep in the rocking chair holding the baby. That night he dreamed of Lily; that she was here with him and he was showing Lily her grandson; the joy he would see in her beautiful green eyes. To this day Severus still dreamed of his Lily and those eyes.

* * *

Author's Note: The babies are finally here! There's still more drama to come with the little one, but at least he's alive and Lucius and Narcissa saved him.

Drop me a review and let me know what you think! Was it all you've been waiting for?


	6. Chapter 6

Draco woke early in the morning, because his stomach was growling with hunger and the pain was coming back. He looked around the room and saw all of the evidence of the births, but no people. He then looked down at his stomach to see that it was already much smaller than it had been. It wasn't back to normal yet, but it was definitely flattening out and the second cervix was finally gone. Plus he didn't feel nearly as tired as he normally did. He still ached and was somewhat drowsy, but he was awake enough to call a house elf and request breakfast.

When he was almost done with his meal, Draco heard crying from the other room. Professor Snape came in moments later with his first baby and handed his baby over for the first time.

"He's hungry and needs to eat," Severus said.

"Um, just how do I do that?" Draco asked, staring at his son's tiny face in awe; the face was scrunched up and wailing, but also chubby, wrinkled, and topped with tuffs of blond hair.

Severus helped Draco position the baby and then helped the baby latch onto Draco's elongated nipples. Then he sat back in a nearby chair and watched as the baby fed.

The baby suckled on Draco's nipples and it felt weird. He looked down and was horrified to see what his chest had become. He was somewhat grateful for the fact that he had been too busy sleeping through these last few months to notice the change, but he was still shocked by it nonetheless. He didn't have boobs, thank Merlin, but his pecks were swollen; he looked like one of those men who worked out way too much. He reached down and pushed on his free peck, thinking that it'd feel like muscle, but it had too much give; it was hard and hurt when he pushed, but not in the way muscle was hard. "Ow," he said, pulling his finger away.

"Does the other breast hurt?" Severus asked concerned.

"Yeah, when I poke it."

"That's because you only have the one baby here and your body is making enough milk for two babies. It will only get worse if we don't start pumping the extra milk."

"What is the other baby eating?"

"The muggles are feeding him in the hospital, but I don't know what."

"Well if I _pump_ this bloody milk, can't my mother and father take it to the hospital for him?" Draco made the word pump sound like it was a dirty word.

"Yes, would you like me to get the pump set up?"

"Yeah, I guess," Draco said, not that he had a choice. The unused side was only hurting worse as they continued talking, probably because he was thinking about it now. And he didn't want his other baby drinking muggle milk; who knows what they put in it or where they get it from.

Severus went to the storeroom and found the box with the magical breast pump for Peverell males along with a box filled with glass baby bottles, all of which he brought back to Draco's bedroom. He set up the contraption bottles and brought it over to Draco, who was burping the blond baby, and waited adoringly for Draco to finish. Then he took the baby from Draco and laid him down in the basinet, before going back to Draco's side and hooking the two pumps up to Draco's elongated nipples.

Draco watched Severus in horror. If his pecks being all poofed out and engorged with milk wasn't bad enough, he was just noticing how _long_ his nipples were. They must be over an inch long and looked like teats! And his old head of house was maneuvering the teats into the holes of the pumping things. The pumps stayed in the proper position with magic and then Professor Snape spelled the machine to start suctioning out the milk from his body; the left side, where the baby had just pulled milk from, was spurting out a thin stream of white milk, while the right side was gushing forth with a very thick stream of milk. He could see the milk trickling down into a bottle on the left and the milk pouring down in a torrent into the bottle on the right.

Draco felt rather grossed out by the process and pulled up his sheet to cover himself so that he didn't have to see it. Severus had retrieved the baby from the basinet and was now holding him in the chair next to Draco's bed.

"Is this the first time he's eaten?" Draco asked, just now realizing how long it had been since the birth and knowing that babies this little were supposed to eat every two hours.

"No, this is the second. He woke up two hours ago and two hours before that, you gave birth to him; he hasn't missed a feeding."

"Oh good," Draco said relieved. "But I don't remember feeding him before."

"You were still asleep. I held him up to you and helped him latch on, without waking you up."

"Oh, wow, thanks! Um, you seem to really like him," Draco said, noticing how unusual the normally stoic professor was behaving.

"We have taken a liking to each other, I suppose. He reminds me of my best friend Lily."

"Lily Potter?"

"No, Lily Evans. We were friends before she married that blasted Potter."

"So he looks like Harry's mother then?"

"Yes, he has her cheeks, chin, and even her forehead. And his eyes aren't green yet, but I'm sure they will be."

The thought that his baby resembled a muggle-born flashed through his mind for a moment, but Draco quickly shook it off. "What about the other baby? He looked like me, didn't he?" Draco asked, trying to remember what his second baby looked like, but he had only gotten a glimpse. He'd been kind of out of it on pain potions at the time and he couldn't remember much besides black hair and the vague recollection of pointy features.

"Oh yes, the second boy was the spitting image of a Malfoy if ever I saw one. Are you going to keep referring to them as the first and second baby, or do you have names in mind?"

"Well I do have some names in mind, but only one first name. And I want to see them before I decide."

"That's understandable," Severus said before checking the progress of the breast pumps. The milk in the right bottle was nearing the top. He put the baby down and changed it out and while he was doing so Lucius walked in and picked the baby up.

"Morning Draco, Severus," Lucius said, before looking back to his precious grandson who he held in his arms.

"Morning Father. How is the other baby? You were with Mother, weren't you?" Draco asked concerned, trying to ignore what Professor Snape was doing to his chest.

"Yes, I went with your mother and I'll be going back there in a minute, after I eat. The muggles got the little Malfoy breathing and have him hooked up to some muggle breathing machine. It's the oddest contraption and they have him inside a glass box on top of a rolling cart with all these wires and tubes and machines with buttons and lights. They said that it'll probably take a week before he starts breathing on his own and they release him."

"I wish I could see him and hold him," Draco admitted.

"Well the muggles did say that they would like you to stop by with the other baby to get checked out, so if you really want to see him, we could arrange that. But it'd be safer if you didn't leave the villa and at the very least we should wait until you've had a chance to recover," Lucius said.

"Perhaps it would be best to take a camera with you Lucius and bring back a photo of your other grandson. Muggles have cameras, I believe," Severus said, finished with Draco's pump. He capped the bottle full of breast milk, cast a stasis charm on it, and set it on the desk.

"Yes, I'll do that," Lucius said. "I better eat quickly and get going; I'm sure your mother is exhausted by now." He had only slept for two hours himself, but it was two hours more than his wife had gotten.

Severus took the baby back from Lucius and said, "Take the bottle of milk and get the muggles to feed it to the other baby."

"Alright, I will," Lucius said, grabbing the bottle and going downstairs to the dining room. He quickly ate, before finding their camera and apparating to the hospital.

Lucius found his wife and handed the bottle of milk over to the muggle-nurse, asking her to feed it to the baby. She agreed and quickly went to switch out the formula they had been giving the baby for the real breast milk. She even took the baby out of the glass box so that he could take a picture. He kissed his wife and handed her the camera, before telling her to go home and get some sleep.

Having been up all night, Narcissa agreed and said she would come back to relieve him. The muggle-nurse tried to tell them that it was alright to leave and assured them that the baby would be fine in her care, but the last thing they wanted to do was leave their grandson in the care of a muggle unsupervised; who knew what weird muggle things she might do to him while they were gone! So Lucius stayed and Narcissa promised to come back when she woke up.

Narcissa went home and checked on Draco, who was asleep in his bedroom. She left the camera on Draco's desk and went in search of Severus and her other grandson. She found Severus asleep in the spare bed in the nursery with the blond baby sleeping in his arms, instead of the crib that was only feet away. She gently picked the little guy up and placed him in the blue and silver crib, because it was closest to Severus. Then she went downstairs and ate quickly, before going to her room and sleeping for four hours.

While Narcissa was asleep, the blond baby woke up again and Severus took him over to Draco's room for a feed. Draco woke up and held his son and Severus set up the breast pump on his other side.

While Severus was at work, Draco spotted the camera and asked, "Professor Snape, would you take a picture of this baby and then develop the pictures for me?"

Professor Snape agreed and snapped a shot of Draco feeding the baby. Then he went in search of the darkroom. He called a house elf, who told him about the shed out back where Abraxas Malfoy used to develop photos. He went to work sorting through the various chemicals and looking for photo quality parchment.

Draco finished feeding and burping the baby and put him down on the bed by his side, putting a pillow between the baby and the edge of the bed, so that he wouldn't fall off; it was a giant bed, so there was plenty of room. Then he reached for the instruction booklet for the breast pump and set about figuring out how to stop and unhook the contraption. Once he had that done and the full bottle of fresh milk under a stasis charm, he went back to his bed and curled up with his first born son, while missing his second born.

After a few minutes, Draco began to wish he could talk to Harry right now. It was dangerous to communicate with Harry, who could be intercepted by Death Eaters or the Dark Lord at any time and whose occlumency skills sucked, but he was alone and he really needed someone to talk to, so he decided to do it. He pulled out his parchment with the Protean charm on it from his nightstand drawer, where he had left it right next to his galleons charmed to communicate with Harry and Hermione.

The parchment was the same one he had used to leave Harry that first message, after their wedding and Dumbledore's death. He had left a blank parchment, the other half to this one, on Harry's bed. When he was safe at the villa, he wrote on his charmed copy, which transferred his message to Harry's parchment. Draco had seen the message Harry had sent after reading Draco's message, but he didn't want to encourage Harry to communicate with him while they were in hiding, so he hadn't written back.

Draco wrote: "I had the babies during the night. The first one was healthy. Mother took the second one to a muggle hospital; I haven't seen him since and I didn't even get to hold him. I'm alone and I'm scared." He didn't write names or sign it, in case it was intercepted.

Fifteen minutes passed without a response from Harry, so he pulled his charmed coin out of the nightstand and tapped it with his wand, making the words, "Look at your parchment," appear on it. Five minutes later the coin heated up and changed to read, "What's wrong with him?"

Harry must not have known that messages could be sent back, despite his earlier successful use of the parchment. Thus Draco picked up his quill and wrote, "He wasn't breathing. You can write messages back to me on the parchment and I'll get them."

It was another several minutes before he got a reply back, this time on his parchment. It read, "Sorry, I had to find a quill and ink. Is the baby alright now? Did the muggles get him breathing? I love you and I miss you and I want to be there with you."

Draco wrote back, "The muggles have him on some sort of breathing machine. They said they would need to keep him on it for a week. I'm not sure of all of the details; I wasn't there."

"I'm sure he'll be alright; muggles have gotten really good at taking care of babies. What do they look like? What did you name them?"

"The first one has blond hair. Mother told me she thinks he looks like your mother and will most likely have green eyes," Draco wrote, switching out the mention of Professor Snape for his mother, because Harry didn't know Professor Snape was with him. "The second one had black hair and looked more like me, but I only saw him for a second. I haven't named them yet. I haven't had a chance to find a decent Potter name."

"They sound wonderful. I can't wait to meet them and tell them I love them. And I found a name I thought you might like. Well, Hermione helped me find it, and it's not astrological per se, but I thought you might like it."

"What is it?"

"Hyperion. It's Greek—Hermione says he's one of the Titans and the father of the sun, the moon, and the dawn—and it was the name of a Potter who lived hundreds of years ago."

"It's perfect. How did you find it?"

"I didn't have that book you have, but Hermione found an ancient book on the pureblood lines at headquarters. Even hundreds of years ago they had horrible taste in names, but I liked Hyperion. Can I come over and keep you company? I'm not doing anything here; we're out of leads."

While Draco was writing, Druella came into the room, having just finished breakfast. She picked up the baby and went to sit in the chair next to Draco's bed. Then she asked, "What are you doing dragon?"

"I'm writing to Harry," Draco replied and wrote, "No, you can't come. I'm not even the secret keeper, so I couldn't tell you it if I wanted to. I'll be alright; my grandmother just walked in. Got to go. I love you."

Druella replied, "You best be careful what you write now."

Harry wrote back, "Don't go. I love you too. Please keep writing to me."

Draco tucked the parchment away in his drawer and put the lid back on his bottle of ink, before looking up at his grandmother and saying, "I didn't tell him much; just that the babies were born."

"Good. Have you eaten yet? You need to keep up your strength now that you're breast feeding."

"Yeah, I ate."

"You need to drink sixteen ounces of water every time you breast feed, so that you don't get dehydrated. Have you drunk that much?"

"No Grandmother, I'll drink some more now," Draco said grabbing the empty glass off of his nightstand and filling it with water. He drank it and then started on a second glass.

Draco was still drinking his water when Professor Snape came back with two photos, one of Draco and the blond baby and the other one of the raven haired baby with tubes sticking down his throat and taped in place to his face. Draco put the glass down and picked the pictures up, caressing the tiny face in the photo as the little boy's chest moved up and down, indicating that he was breathing. He was so much smaller than the first baby, but he definitely had the Malfoy facial features.

"This one is Scorpius Abraxas Malfoy," Draco said, still glued to the picture of his second son. He had been planning on naming the one with the most Malfoy features Scorpius and the raven haired baby was it. "And Hyperion Draco Malfoy for the other one." He liked the name Hyperion and he especially liked that Harry had gone through the trouble of looking up a name that he would find suitable. He had just been too ill during the pregnancy to research names and he didn't have the time now.

"That is a good name for such a precious being. He is the most wonderful person I've seen since Lily died," Severus replied.

"Alright, Hyperion Draco it is," Draco confirmed with a smile.

By this point Severus was dead on his feet; Druella noticed and ordered, "Off to bed with you now Severus! I'll watch my grandson and great grandson while you rest."

Severus agreed, but asked Druella to come get him if they needed anything and assured them that he was just going to lie down in the spare bed in the nursery. A few minutes after Severus left, Draco started yawning, so Druella sent him off to sleep as well. She took Baby Hyperion, a basinet, and a nappy bag down the hall to her own room, so that Draco could sleep peacefully.

Druella only woke Draco two hours later, because it was time to feed Hyperion again. And while he was awake, he might as well pump milk for Scorpius, so he hooked up the breast pump to the other side. The breast pump held itself and he held Hyperion with his left arm, leaving his right hand free for his grandmother to push a glass of water into. He got the hint and drank his two glasses of water while he waited for Hyperion to finish feeding.

By this time Druella, having been up half the night, was tired herself and Draco was feeling a bit more rested after his nap. Thus Druella went off to bed and Draco stayed up with the baby. Hyperion spent most of the time sleeping, but the baby also made a very foul mess in his nappy that Draco had to clean. He changed the nappy and while he was at it, he changed the baby's clothes and trimmed his finger nails. He even got little Hyperion's dark grey eyes to open, which was the first time he had ever seen them. At that point he grabbed the camera, which Professor Snape had left lying on the desk, and snapped a photo.

Hyperion fell asleep just before lunch time, so Draco put the baby in the remaining basinet and crawled into bed, before requesting that a house elf bring him lunch in bed. He was itching to get out of his room, but he was wary of going down the flight of stairs holding the baby when he was still recovering from the births. Thus he ate in bed and then banished the tray to the kitchens for the house elves to clean. Then he went into the en suite bathroom to see about brushing his teeth and fixing his hair.

Draco's usual grooming spell was not working, because his hair had grown too long during the pregnancy. He went through his books until he found the one of grooming charms and was just reading through the directions on cutting hair, when Hyperion started crying softly. He put down the book and rushed back into the bedroom to get his baby. He fed Hyperion and expressed milk from the other side. Hyperion fell back asleep while he was burping the baby, so Draco laid Hyperion back down in the basinet and returned to the bathroom to cut his hair.

The blond hair wasn't cut as perfectly as when his mother did it, but it was better than it was before, so Draco recast his grooming charm, leaving the mess for the house elves. He couldn't remember the last time he had taken a bath, so he took one now and spent a long time lying back relaxing in the tub. Then he got out, dressed in trousers instead of pajama bottoms for a change, and went back over to the basinet to check on the baby.

Hyperion needed another nappy change and woke up when Draco went to change it. He wanted the baby to sleep tonight, so he made an effort to talk to Hyperion and try to get him to stay awake for a bit.

Narcissa, having just woken up, went straight to Draco's room to check on him and the baby. She entered the room and found her son rubbing the little blond baby on the back.

Draco looked up at his mother and said, "Hello mother."

"Hello Draco; I'm glad to see you're feeling better. How is my little grandson doing today?"

"Hyperion is doing fine. Can you tell me more about how Scorpius is?" Draco asked hopefully.

"You decided to name them Hyperion and Scorpius then?" Narcissa asked with approval.

"Yes, but please tell me about Scorpius."

"Alright, but let me take my lunch in here with you then," Narcissa said, before calling a house elf to bring her some lunch.

Narcissa sat at the desk with a bowl of tomato and cream soup and a cheese sandwich while she told Draco all about the muggle hospital and the machines they had Scorpius hooked up to. She told him about the nurses and healers and what they said about the baby's prognosis for release and about the birth defects. Draco laughed when he heard what the muggles thought of the Peverell penis, but he blanched in horror as his mother told him about Scorpius' bowed leg and turned in foot.

"It's nothing St. Mungo's can't fix," Narcissa assured her son.

Draco tried not to get too upset about the malformed leg, given that there was nothing he could do about it right now. Instead he told his mother to tell Scorpius that he loved him, before Narcissa left, heading off to the hospital.

Z

Harry and Hermione were eating a meager breakfast alone in their tent now that Ron had abandoned them, when, for the first time since before Dumbledore's death, Harry felt his coin burning in the pouch he kept around his neck. He threw down his spoon and quickly read Draco's message, glad that he still kept the coin on him every day; he liked to send Draco little messages, even if Draco never replied.

"My parchment Hermione! Get your bag, I need the parchment Draco left me," Harry exclaimed. He had considered keeping his parchment in the pouch around his neck, but he had been worried the snitch from Dumbledore would crumple it and the pouch wasn't wide enough to fit the parchment, unless he folded it and he hadn't wanted to crease it, because it had been from Draco. Thus he had stored it in Hermione's handbag with all his other things.

Hermione jumped up and Harry followed. It took several minutes for them to find the handbag and retrieve the parchment, but then they had and Harry was reading it. "He had the babies Hermione!"

"That's great Harry!" Hermione replied.

Harry's excitement quickly turned to dread as he read the rest of the short message. "Narcissa left him alone and took the second baby to a muggle-hospital."

"What happened?"

"I don't know."

"Well get your coin and ask him!" Hermione replied, feeling frantic over the news and knowing that there was nothing she could do to help from this far away. They didn't even know where Draco was.

Harry ran back to the breakfast table, grabbed his coin from where he'd left it, and tapped it, making it ask what was wrong with the baby.

The message that appeared on the parchment next made Harry feel like his heart was being ripped out and stomped on by angry trolls. "He wasn't breathing Hermione! And I need a bottle of ink and a quill!"

"He wasn't breathing? Is he breathing now? Is he going to be okay? Merlin help him," Hermione replied frantically, while Harry ran back to the side of the tent with Hermione's bag and began searching through it for ink and a quill.

"I won't know until I get a quill," Harry said already pulling out half a bottle of ink and going back in for a quill.

"Yes, a quill. We need a quill Harry!" Hermione shouted uselessly.

Harry pulled out a quill, but it was broken and he had to go back in for another. "Calm down Hermione! We need to stay calm and find out what happened. We can't know what we can do to help if I can't find a quill," Harry said while he searched for a quill. "Just sit down and breathe, will you?"

"Yes, sit and breathe," Hermione repeated, doing as instructed.

Harry finally found a functioning quill and ran back over to the kitchen table. He fumbled the lid of the ink, due to his nerves. His hand shook as he wrote his reply asking for more information. He paused for a minute, absentmindedly pressing his quill to his lip and creating an ink stain, before adding that he loved and missed Draco and wanted to be there with Draco, hoping that Draco might just let him. He and Hermione could pack up the tent and apparate over to the continent and then be wherever Draco was by dinner time at the latest; Hermione couldn't apparate anywhere she hadn't been before, but she had been to France. They could find a train to take them closer and maybe even a muggle taxi. He wanted to be there to comfort Draco and see his son and maybe he and Hermione could help Narcissa with the muggle doctors.

The words Harry wrote on the parchment disappeared moments after he had written them as the parchment blanked itself and another moment later Draco's message appeared.

"He's on a muggle breathing machine and the muggles need to keep him for a week," Harry told Hermione, even though Hermione was right there looking over his shoulder and probably reading Draco's messages first hand.

"Muggle technology for treating premature babies has gotten really good, Harry. Muggles are beginning to save babies born up to three months early. Draco was almost full term, so the baby wasn't nearly that early; they'll probably have no problems healing him," Hermione said, trying to concentrate on the facts instead of freaking out again.

Harry murmured some reassurance to Hermione and then wrote a short sentence of reassurance back to Draco, citing what Hermione had just told him. Then he asked about what the babies looked like and were named.

"One has blond hair and looks like my mother and the other has black hair and looks like Draco. No names yet," Harry said out loud for Hermione.

"That's great! Really brilliant," Hermione said, attempting to stay calm, but she could just imagine a little raven haired Malfoy baby hooked up to machines in a muggle-hospital.

"I wonder how Narcissa knows what my mum looked like. Do you think she knew my mum?" Harry asked, thinking back to the time he had shown Narcissa and Draco his family photo album. Narcissa hadn't mentioned knowing his mum then. "I showed her pictures of my parents; do you think she could possibly remember my mum's features that well from a photo?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe Narcissa just assumed that he looks like your mum, because he doesn't look like anyone else? If he looked like your dad, well they would just say he looked like you, because you look like your dad. So if he doesn't look like the Malfoys and doesn't look like you, then it's pretty easy to conclude that he must look like your mum," Hermione replied.

"Yeah, maybe. But what if Narcissa did know my mum? The Malfoys aren't that much older than my parents; Narcissa was probably still at Hogwarts when my parents started there. Narcissa really is nothing like Lucius, so maybe she remembered her…my mum, I mean." Harry liked to think that the polite woman he'd spent time with in the room of requirement was the only side to Narcissa Malfoy. All of the blood purity Death Eater nonsense, would then have had to come from Lucius and Narcissa had only gone along with her husband and not actively participated in it.

"It's a possibility Harry. You better write him something back."

"Yeah, you're right," Harry said before writing his reply to Draco and mentioning the name he had found.

There had been a lot of clear misses when it came to wizarding genealogy books and potential names when Harry was looking through the library at Grimmauld Place. He had found a particularly horrid book of all of the dark accomplishments of the Black family in the sixteenth century. After mistakenly reading a disgusting bit about muggle torture, Hermione had stepped in and found a proper book with decent wizards. There were only a few Potters mentioned in it, but among them was Hyperion Potter. Hyperion had invented a potion to ameliorate the common cold back in the thirteen hundreds; the potion was long since out dated, ever since the much better pepper up potion was invented, but his name was forever recorded in one dust covered and heavily aged book at Grimmauld Place.

Harry liked the name Hyperion and thought it had a nice ring to it, plus it had come from a descent wizard who had helped alleviate suffering. The meaning behind the name was also nice, given that Hyperion was the father of the sun, the moon, and the dawn. His sons and Draco were everything to him and represented the sun, the moon, and the stars, as the muggles say; replace stars for dawn and it was pretty much the same thing. And given the complete dearth of alternative acceptable Potter names, it really was a no brainer.

Harry leapt out of his seat half a foot as he read that Draco liked the name. Then he sat back down to fulfill Draco's request for more information, before asking again if they could come over. "It really wouldn't hurt us to spend a couple of days with them. I could keep Draco company and you could go with Narcissa to the muggle-hospital. Maybe we could even brainstorm with Narcissa and get another idea about where we can search for the next horcrux."

"At the very least, we know You-Know-Who has been to their house and they might have a portrait we can interrogate for information," Hermione suggested. "Say if Lucius' father had a portrait at Malfoy Manor, which I'm sure he does, and another one wherever they're staying now, then just maybe he might be able to help us."

"Yeah, that's brilliant Hermione!" Harry replied enthusiastically. Right now they were plum out of leads and anything sounded brilliant; it didn't even matter that Lucius' father was probably a racist Death Eater supporter and would be disinclined to give them helpful information. For a second he thought that a Malfoy portrait would be more likely to send them on a wild goose trail and report their presence at Draco and Narcissa's hideout to Voldemort. But with the news of his son's medical problems and their setbacks in the horcrux hunt, he couldn't think about any more depressing thoughts or he was going to break down. Instead, he tried to stay hopeful.

But then Draco's reply had appeared declining his request to come over, explaining that it was an impossibility because Draco wasn't the secret keeper, and then mentioning that Draco's grandmother was there. "His grandmum? I forgot about her. Do you think she's been there all along? Do you think maybe they're at her house? Where does she even live?" Harry asked. He didn't really expect Hermione to have all the answers, but maybe she had an idea of where they could get the answers from.

"Is this Narcissa's or Lucius' mum?" Hermione asked, already going back for her handbag.

"Narcissa's mum, I believe," Harry said, remembering that Draco had told him that only Narcissa' mum was still alive.

"Well if that's the case, Draco probably took her in to get her away from Bellatrix. With Narcissa in hiding and Tonks' mum disowned, Bellatrix would be the only one looking after the old woman," Hermione said, coming back over with her arm deep inside her handbag as she searched for something. "But maybe we can interrogate Phineas Nigellus Black's portrait."

"Yeah, just let me write back to Draco," Harry said, thinking about what to write, even though Draco had already said he had to go and he wasn't sure the message would be seen.

"Don't go. Who is your secret keeper? Is it your grandmum?" Harry wrote, before looking up and nodding at Hermione that he was ready for the portrait.

Hermione had the portrait out and said portrait was covered in a black cloth, so that Phineas Nigellus Black couldn't report any information on them back to Snape, who had access to Phineas' other portrait in the headmaster's office.

"Professor Black!" Hermione called.

"Yes? Who is it? What do you want?" the portrait asked.

"Where does Narcissa Malfoy's mum live?" Hermione asked.

"Why should I tell you? What do you want? You still haven't told me who you are."

"Just answer the question. Does she live in Britain?"

"Yes, of course she lives in Britain! Or at least she did before she went missing last year."

"She's missing?" This was a good sign.

"Yes. First Narcissa disappeared and then her mother went too."

"Do you have any idea where they could've gone?"

"No and if I did I wouldn't tell you! I don't even know who you are!"

At that Hermione shoved the portrait back into her handbag. There were muffled shouts of complaint from the portrait, but they were cut off when Hermione snapped the bag closed. Harry looked back at his parchment, which was now blank; he was disappointed that Draco hadn't written him back, but he decided he would keep the parchment out in case Draco wrote again later.

"Well that answers that: Narcissa's mum is with them, but we still have no idea where they could be," Hermione said.

"At least we know Draco isn't completely alone with the first baby when Narcissa is out checking on the second," Harry conceded. "Merlin, I hope she doesn't get caught leaving the safe house."

"She won't get caught as long as she stays in the muggle world."

"Going to a muggle-hospital was shear brilliance."

"I'm a bit surprised that a Malfoy would've thought of that, with all their blood purity tripe. Can you picture a stuffy pure blood walking into a muggle establishment and asking for help?" Hermione asked, stifling a laugh.

"No," Harry agreed and laughed, mostly because they really needed to relieve some tension right now and humor was one way of going about it. "I bet the Malfoys don't even bother taking muggle studies."

"Probably not. She probably showed up in her robes and didn't even know how muggles were lighting the ceiling, not to mention all of the electronic equipment."

"Yeah, I bet she was horrified to see what the muggles did to my son; they probably have him on an IV and some huge machine to breath for him," Harry said suddenly turning sullen as he thought about the critical situation his son was currently in and how there was nothing he could do to help.

"Oh Harry, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean…"

"It's okay Hermione, I know. But just think what would've happened if Narcissa hadn't thought to take him to the muggles for help? My son would be dead right now," Harry said with a sob as the tears started leaking from his eyes.

"I know; it's so unbearably awful," Hermione agreed, throwing her arms around Harry and hugging him.

Z

Author's Note: So now Harry knows and the babies have names. Next chapter Draco will be contacting Harry again…

Please Review!


	7. Chapter 7

Lucius was exhausted as he waited for his wife to return, while watching his newborn grandson. That was an improvement from an hour earlier, when he was tired _and_ hungry. The muggles had provided him with a sandwich and thankfully hadn't even asked him to pay for it; he didn't have any muggle money and didn't know a safe place to trade in galleons to get some. But when he mentioned payment the nurse said not to mind that, because the sandwiches were provided for free to patients in the maternity ward.

The nurses' one request was that Lucius eat the sandwich outside the NHDU. He didn't want to leave his grandson alone with muggles, even for a minute, but by that point he was starving and he figured that nothing much could go wrong in the short time it took to eat quickly. There wasn't much he could do medically for his grandson, because he knew fewer healing spells than Narcissa and he was relying mainly on the muggles for treating the baby. Mostly what he was there to do was to make sure that the muggles didn't try some outlandish procedure on the baby and that they didn't mix up his grandson with some muggle baby; but muggles couldn't complete a procedure in the time he was out of the room and his grandson already looked distinctive enough that he was sure he could spot him out of a whole line of babies. His grandson had his facial structure and had the look of fine breeding, even with the black hair; besides, Narcissa's father and sister had had black hair too.

Thus Lucius had eaten the muggle sandwich and he'd enjoyed it too, since it contained foods they didn't have in their storeroom at the villa. By the time Narcissa finally arrive, he was back in front of the incubator watching his grandson sleep. He greeted Narcissa with a hug and she beamed at him with a smile that could only be possible with proper sleep.

"How is he doing?" Narcissa asked in French, looking over at her grandson.

"Brilliant. While you were gone the little champion whizzed all over the place. They had to get a new incubator to switch him over to, while they cleaned out the last one. I had to show them how to change a proper cloth nappy. They don't use the cloth ones and it took them an hour to scrounge up a pack of them, before I could show them how to make sure the tip was tucked in just right so that it wouldn't happen again," Lucius answered proudly, also in French. He had even put on a pair of those awful muggle gloves and muggle hospital clothes to do it. "What news do you have from home?"  
"Our son has finally chosen names for the babies. This little one is Scorpius," Narcissa answered.

"That's an excellent name," Lucius replied.

"Well we'll update his incubator with the new name," the nurse said, getting a marker and making the new name card.

"Go home and get some rest dear, but do try to relieve me before nine," Narcissa said.

Lucius agreed and went home. Narcissa took his chair.

"Your son must be a Farscape fan," the nurse said, changing the baby's name in his charts, now that the incubator was already updated.

"What's Farscape?" Narcissa asked.

"An American scifi show. My little sister watches it and the villain alien is named Scorpius."

"Oh, I've never heard of it."

"Not many people have; it's sort of hard to get here in France, but my little sister is obsessed with that sort of show."

"I'll have to ask my son if that was where he got the name from."

"What's the other baby's name? Scorpius' twin?"

"Hyperion."

"Now that _has_ to be a name from one of those scifi shows. I don't watch them enough to know all their names, but that name fits in with those shows."

"I'm sure you're right," Narcissa lied, because it was easier to let the muggle think her son was into whatever it was the nurse was talking about than to reveal the truth.

"I'll have to ask my sister the next time I see her if she knows of a character named Hyperion."

"Yes, please do. My son's girlfriend expressed more milk for Scorpius. My son wants me to be sure his little man is getting breast milk," Narcissa said, changing the subject and pulling out the full bottle of milk from her large handbag.

"Oh my, that is a lot of milk; Scorpius hasn't even finished the last bottle your husband brought. Is the mother really expressing all this milk and having enough for the other baby?" the nurse asked, taking the bottle and labeling it, before putting it into the nearby refrigerator.

"Yes. She feeds Hyperion on one side, pumps the other side, and sends it in. That's what came out."

"Well that's excellent news for your grandsons; they'll have plenty of breast milk and breast is best. Scorpius is too little to drink all this milk as quickly as you're bringing it in, so I recommend freezing the extra and then just letting it thaw out when you need it."

"How much is that tube feeding him?"

"Half an ounce every hour, but I'm hopeful that I'll be increasing it soon."

"How long will he have to be fed through a tube?" Narcissa asked, not even understanding why her grandson was being fed through a tube.

"Until we can take the respirator out. We can't bottle feed him with the respirator in."

Narcissa settled in to watch and wait. Scorpius soiled his nappy, which was the big shocker of the afternoon. And when Scorpius stayed awake after the nappy change, the nurse let Narcissa hold him, provided she change into muggle-hospital clothes, which she did. The nurse even took a picture of them and promised to give it to her once she had it developed. And while Narcissa fawned over the tiny newborn, Scorpius opened his eyes and she got the first look into a pair of light grey eyes that matched her son's and husband's eyes.

"Can you take another of his face with his eyes open? I want to show my son that Scorpius has his eyes; he's never seen his eyes before," Narcissa said.

The nurse agreed and took another photo, this one a close up on Scorpius' face.

While Narcissa was at the hospital, Lucius, Severus, and Druella were sleeping at the villa. Draco was up off and on with Baby Hyperion, but mostly he took it easy, rested as much as possible, and tried to keep to the two glasses of water he was supposed to be drinking every two hours. He now had quite a few bottles of milk under stasis charms sitting on his desk. Hyperion drank a lot, but Draco seemed to be producing enough milk for two Hyperions.

Draco quickly became lonely now that he was once again left alone with just the one baby. He began thinking of Harry and then of Scorpius and what the muggles had said about his baby's leg. There had never been any birth defects in either the Malfoy or the Black families. He could only think of one reason why there would be something wrong with his son and that was because Harry's Weasley friend had punched him in the stomach. Apparently the smaller of the two babies had been seriously injured by Weasley's attack.

The Protean charmed parchment was back in his nightstand drawer, but it only took a second for Draco to pull it out again and prepare his quill. He wrote, "Mother just got back from the hospital. The muggle healers said the baby has a deformed left leg and foot. It's too thin and bowed, and the foot is turned in. This is Weasley's fault."

It was only a minute later that Harry wrote back, "Is he alright? What are the doctors going to do to fix it?"

"They're not going to fix it; we're going to have to wait until after the war to seek treatment. You better end this soon so it doesn't interfere with his development."

"I'll try. I'm sooo sorry this happened. I stand by my promise that I won't let Ron near him."

"Good, see that you don't."

It took more than five minutes for the next reply and Draco began to wonder if Harry was still there. But then, "How bad does the leg look?" appeared on the parchment.

"I didn't notice it during the glimpse I saw of him, but apparently the muggle-healer said it's smaller than his penis, and he doesn't think the baby will be able to walk like that. They also thought there was a defect in the penis, because he's a Peverell boy."

"Is your mum going to be able to cast the vanishing spell on them?"

"Vanishing spell?"

"For the waste?"

"Oh, I'll have to ask her. I've just been letting the first baby poop. As long as the second baby is with the muggles, he'll have to stay pooping," Draco wrote, thinking that that was a good point. Both boys were Peverells and as such they would need the permanent feces vanishing charm placed on them.

"What if she can't do it? The muggles won't be able to fix it."

"You lasted sixteen years without an infection; the boys will be fine for a few months until you end the war."

"Yeah, you're right. I love you. Can you tell the boys I love them?"

"I'll tell the first one. I love you too."

"I'll keep this parchment out; write me anytime you want to talk. I've missed you so much and I'm so glad to hear from you."

"How is the war going then?"

"Not so good. We found one piece of the puzzle, but we haven't been able to destroy it yet. Ron left us. Hermione and I haven't been able to come up with any new leads. We're at a dead end with nowhere else to search."

"What are you looking for?"

"Items of value to Voldemort. He has an obsession with the four founders, so any item that belonged to one of them might be it."

"I didn't see any relics from the founders when I was with him."

"What about places he might hide something very valuable to him? Like the diary he gave your dad to keep, but your dad gave to Ginny to open the Chamber of Secrets."

"My father is currently out of his favor. Professor Snape and Aunt Bella are his current favorites."

"I don't think Snape has been a favorite long enough to have one of these items. Where would your aunt hide something valuable? Where does she live?"

"She lives with Him in the guesthouse at Malfoy Manor. Uncle Rody's mother hates her and won't let them back in her home, but Uncle Rody still has control of the family's vaults."

"I know he's your dad, but opening your home up to Voldemort and his Death Eaters?"

"Father isn't with Him; hasn't been since a few weeks after he was released from Azkaban."

"You mean escaped."

"No, he was released. The dementors let him go and he walked out the front door."

"Alright, but where did he go? I heard he was missing; is he with you?"

"He went into hiding. I wrote him and told him to bail and he did. He gathered some supplies and left immediately; he'll lay low until the end of the war and then we'll contact him."

"But then why is Voldemort in your house?"

"Father agreed to let Him in when he was in Azkaban. The Dark Lord already had access and Father didn't bother taking the time to kick Him out when he left. Feel free to kick him out anytime you want."

"Huh?"

"You're a Malfoy now; you have access to the Manor. The house elves and wards will obey you first."

"That's great! I'm sure that will come in handy during the final confrontation, but I can't do that until I've found all of the objects."

"Baby is crying; got to go," Draco wrote, hearing Hyperion wake up. He fed, burped and changed his baby and expressed more milk for the other baby.

Grandmother Druella was the first one to wake and she came into Draco's room to talk to him, while Hyperion slept off and on. Mostly his grandmother alternated between telling him stories about the adventures she got into when she was young and criticizing the latest Minister, the Ministry, and the Daily Prophet, even though all three were now under Death Eater control. Everything was better back in her day when she could buy a crate full of pumpkin juice for a knut.

Draco and Druella had dinner together and they were just finishing up when Severus woke up and joined them. Draco asked his old professor to cast the excrement vanishing charm on Hyperion and Severus agreed to do it after he finished dinner.

* * *

Harry and Hermione were having a very solemn day in their tent after learning the news about the second baby. Harry would have brief moments of joy as he contemplated that he was a dad, that his first born was healthy, and that Draco was safe and alive in hiding. But those moments of joy were quickly squelched by thoughts of the second baby's precarious position in a muggle hospital, not safely in hiding, and not even breathing on his own.

Neither Hermione nor Harry had had much of an appetite for lunch, nor had they gotten much research done. They spent the day alternating between sitting, standing, and pacing while they thought of Draco and the babies. Neither of them had moved the Protean charmed parchment from the table and they hadn't touched the quill and pot of ink either, except for to close the ink so that it didn't dry out.

Harry was pacing back and forth in the tiny tent when he noticed a flicker of black from the parchment. He quickly ran over to the parchment, calling for Hermione as he went, and read Draco's new message.

"What is it?" Hermione asked, getting up from where she had been sitting aimlessly on her bed and joining Harry at the small table.

"The second baby has a deformed leg; Draco said it's Ron's fault," Harry answered, still in disbelief as he silently read the parchment a second and then a third time, before it blanked itself. He reopened the ink and dipped his quill in, preparing to write back, but then he paused as he realized he didn't know what to write.

"Well is he otherwise alright? What are the doctors going to do to fix it? Surgery maybe?" Hermione asked.

Harry shortened Hermione's questions and asked them of Draco. Moments later Draco wrote back that healing the deformity was going to have to wait on Harry defeating Voldemort.

Harry wrote back that he would try to defeat Voldemort quickly, that he was sorry this happened, and he reaffirmed his earlier promise not to ever let Ron near the baby.

"No, you can't do that! Ron is your best friend! He made a mistake, but you don't even know this deformity was caused by him; sometimes these things just happen."

"I already told Draco when he was still worried he'd lose the babies over this that I wouldn't let Ron near him or the babies again. I won't have Draco living in fear of another attack and besides, just look at how mental Ron is! He left us and went back to his mummy and daddy when we're in the middle of the most important mission of our lives! I've just become a dad for the first time and you don't see me walking out on my duties."

"Yes, well Ron is an absolute prat, but he apologized for attacking Draco. He promised that he would never hurt him again. He didn't even know Draco was pregnant at the time and he certainly didn't know you two were dating."

"Don't defend him Hermione! He walked out on you just as much as he did me! And before he went, he said all those awful things about Draco and that Draco abandoned me. He still doesn't approve of my relationship with him; he even said I should take the babies and leave Draco, for Merlin's sake!"

"So what does that mean? When this is over, are you not going to be friends with Ron anymore?"

"I don't know Hermione," Harry said sullenly. "I really haven't thought that far ahead. But, if we are friends, Ron won't be permitted over to my house or to be anywhere my children are. Even if I was considering forgiving Ron before, I just can't let him near the babies, especially not now that I know the second one has a physical deformity as a result. Merlin Hermione, it's his leg, what if he never walks?"

"He will. Once you get him to St. Mungo's, they'll be able to fix it. Magic can fix almost anything."

"Magic couldn't fix Mad-Eye up. I think it all depends on how bad it is."

"Ask him then," Hermione said and Harry did, writing the question out on the parchment for Draco.

Hermione giggled as she read the answer Draco sent back, but she knew this was not a laughing matter, so she stifled her giggles with her hand.

Harry noticed Hermione's giggles and he too found the idea of the muggles coming across a Peverell baby and thinking the penis was deformed…well it was funny. Harry was very tense and he needed the laugh. Hermione removed her hand and joined in. The moment of frivolity didn't last long as the gravity of the situation sank in.

"Either he has one giant penis or he had one very tiny leg," Harry said.

"You have to keep positive Harry; there _is_ a leg there and proper wizarding healers will be able to fix it up and straighten it out."

"The deformity couldn't be that severe if Draco didn't notice it."

"But he wasn't breathing when Draco saw him, so maybe Draco didn't even look down there," Hermione replied, bringing them down, despite her earlier insistence that they needed to stay positive.

"Yeah, if my newborn baby wasn't breathing, I'd be looking at the face and the chest and I might miss the leg," Harry added, before turning back to the parchment and reading Draco's message again.

Then it occurred to Harry that his sons were Peverell wizards and would need the special waste vanishing charm that Snape had performed on him. Would Narcissa be able to perform the charm? He didn't know, so he asked Draco. He went back and forth with Draco on the subject a few times. Draco agreed to ask Narcissa and assured Harry that even if Narcissa couldn't perform the charm, the boys would be alright without it for a while.

Harry told Draco he loved Draco and asked Draco to tell the boys he loved them too. Draco agreed to tell the first son, which only made Harry's heart sink as he once again thought of his second son fighting for life in a muggle-hospital. But while he had Draco talking to him again for the first time in over five months, he took the opportunity to encourage Draco to write to him more often, especially now that is seemed the parchment could deliver unlimited numbers of messages both ways.

Draco asked Harry about the war and he answered back with minimum detail, leaving out what exactly they were searching for. Draco seemed willing to help Harry out and even offered up some information on Voldemort, such as that Voldemort and Bellatrix were living in the guesthouse at Malfoy Manor. When it came time and the penultimate horcrux had been destroyed, he now knew that they could go to Malfoy Manor and confront Voldemort. Nagini, the last horcrux, would have to be killed first, but maybe Hermione could do that while he fought with his arch nemesis.

Harry also learned that Bellatrix and Snape were the leading Death Eaters at the moment, making them prime candidates for being the guardians of horcruxes. But Snape had been a spy and up until Dumbledore's death, no one had known his true loyalties lay with Voldemort. Thus it seemed unlikely that Snape himself would be trusted with a horcrux. Bellatrix, on the other hand, was a prime suspect. He was disappointed to learn that Bellatrix lived with Voldemort, which meant they couldn't break into her home to look for horcruxes, without alerting Voldemort.

The one other lead Draco was able to give Harry was that Bellatrix and her husband had a family vault, presumably in Gringotts. Hermione promised that she would try to look into it and so Harry turned back to Draco and the charmed parchment.

Harry couldn't help but criticize Lucius for letting Voldemort and Bellatrix live in Malfoy Manor. The response he got back from Draco was shocking: Lucius had abandoned Voldemort after a simple letter from Draco. He never thought that Voldemort's right hand man would turn against Voldemort with nothing more than a letter; he had seen evidence of Lucius' desertion through his link to Voldemort and he thought that Draco must've been behind it, but he had imagined that Draco had written a great many pleading letters and had worked very hard to bring Lucius around to deserting Voldemort. But now Draco would have him believe that it had only taken _one_ letter from Draco for Lucius to abandon his own home and go into hiding and stayed in hiding all of this time. Lucius clearly wasn't the one-dimensional follower he had taken Lucius for. If nothing else, Lucius loved Draco.

Unbelievably, that shocking news was topped when Draco told Harry that because of the marriage, Harry was now a Malfoy and the Manor and the Manor's elves would recognize him as the proper owner, over Voldemort. Voldemort was a guest in the Manor and Harry was a owner. He began fantasizing about showing up at Malfoy Manor, wands blazing, and over taking Voldemort, Bellatrix, and any other Death Eaters present, with the help of the house, the house elves, and Hermione.

Harry's fantasy was temporally interrupted by Draco's message that the first baby was crying and that Draco had to go. He was disappointed that the conversation was ending, but he hoped that Draco would contact him again and he and Hermione now had loads of new things to think about, so he turned back to his fantasy of walking into Malfoy Manor, finding all of the remaining horcruxes, and taking care of business in one final battle.

"Hermione, do you think You-Know-Who might have both horcruxes on him? If Bellatrix and Nagini are with him and they're all at Malfoy Manor, where else could they be?" Harry asked.

"It's a possibility, but Draco also mentioned the Lestrange family vault and keep in mind, we are still _no_ closer to actually destroying a horcrux than we were before. We should have a way to destroy the horcruxes _before_ we go to Malfoy Manor. I know you destroyed the first horcrux with a basilisk fang, but we don't have one and we have _no_ idea how to get another. Dumbledore wanted us to have the Sword of Gryffindor to destroy the horcruxes, but we don't know where it is or how to get it," Hermione replied, bringing Harry back down to Earth.

"Yeah, you're right. It'd be better to check the vault for horcruxes first, find the sword, and then take the battle to the Manor doorstep. Merlin I wish I knew what was going on in that house."

"I think we will have to wait to find out. When we get there, we'll have to scope the place out. If the house elves obey you, then that will make it so much easier."

"Now look who's talking about using house elf labor," Harry teased.

Harry and Hermione continued on in their discussion of their new horcrux and Voldemort leads and began to put together a plan of attack. Harry found himself staring at the Protean charmed parchment as he spoke with Hermione. He was halfway through a sentence about the Lestrange family vault when something occurred to him. "-er, yeah, so as I was saying, the vault being heavily guarded or protected would be a good thing, because then it'd be more likely that Voldemort actually left a horcrux there. But I just thought of something different. Something about Draco," Harry said.

"What is it?"

"Well I didn't know how that parchment worked before, but basically it works like our coins do, except instead of tapping with our wands we write out messages with our quills."

"Yes, so?"

"So, that means that Draco didn't write his farewell letter to me _before_ Dumbledore died. He left a charmed piece of parchment for me before it happened, but he didn't write the message until sometime _later_! He didn't know Snape was going to kill Dumbledore after all! He probably just left to have dinner with his mum and happened to be safe else-where when he found out about Snape. Ron was wrong; Merlin I wish Ron was here so I could rub that in his face and then hex the daylights out of him."

Harry suddenly realized why he hadn't wanted to keep the parchment on his persons in the moleskin pouch around his neck. It was because he believed Ron that that parchment signified Draco's betrayal, or at least Draco had known of Snape's future betrayal, before it happened. But now that he knew that Draco hadn't known and that Draco hadn't betrayed him, this charmed parchment was not the horrible reminder of being betrayed by his husband on the day after his wedding. The parchment was now the last link to his family and a symbol of what was positive in his life, not what was negative. And in that moment, he decided to start carrying the parchment around with his galleon in the pouch around his neck.

"You're right Harry; Draco probably didn't know and he probably didn't write that message until hours after you left," Hermione replied.

"Probably? No, absolutely I'm right. Draco has never done any of the suspicious stuff Ron accused him of. In fact, I'm starting to think I only started to believe that Draco said he _already_ had the middle room cleared of bunk beds and not that we were _going to_ clear the middle room of bunk beds, well, it's because Ron kept telling me that that was what Draco had said. But Ron wasn't even there to hear it!"

"Well I said all along that Draco wasn't to blame for what happened; it was Snape who did it," Hermione agreed. "And Snape was ordered to do it by Professor Dumbledore himself."

"Not this again," Harry said with a groan.

* * *

Author's Note: The muggles are going to start growing suspicious next chapter…

Please Review!


	8. Chapter 8

Severus cast the excrement vanishing charm on Hyperion Tuesday evening. Druella went off to bed and Draco and Severus covered the night shift at the villa. Lucius covered the night shift at the hospital with Scorpius and Narcissa slept. Wednesday morning Narcissa went to the hospital and Lucius came home with news: the muggles wanted Draco and Hyperion to come to the hospital today for examination and questioning.

Lucius was exhausted, so he went off to sleep, and Severus and Draco started going over their story to tell the muggles. Severus had the story all worked out, having discuss it with Narcissa months ago. All Severus had to do was get Draco to the point where Draco knew the story inside and out. But by this point Draco was absolutely sick of being cooped up in his room, so he decided that they could do this just as easily outside. Severus was agreeable to the small delay, so they set to work moving their conversation downstairs.

Draco went to the nursery and packed a nappy bag full of everything he could possibly need to care for a newborn and sent Severus to the baby storeroom to find the stroller and the baby carrier that went on top. It was a floating twin stroller with a gold and silver turtle print on top of indigo fabric. Since there was only one baby, Severus only unpacked one of the infant carseats that went on top; the carseats took a lot of work adjusting the buckles, so Severus only bothered doing the one.

Draco put little Hyperion in the one carseat on top of the stroller and hooked the nappy bag over the handle bar. He was just strapping Hyperion in when his nipples started leaking. "Merlin!" Draco exclaimed as he looked down his robes and saw the wet marks.

"Perhaps you should take the breast pump with you as well," Severus said, noticing the problem.

Draco peeled off his robes, grateful for the fact that he had trousers on underneath. He had specifically put trousers on underneath, because he was breast feeding and had to frequently expose his chest. "But I just fed Hyperion and I pumped for Scorpius while I did it," he complained, pushing the stroller back into his room to get the breast pump and spare bottles.

"The greatest period for milk production is in the days following the birth. Your body doesn't know exactly how much milk to produce and sometimes it overshoots," Severus said, following Draco.

"But didn't that book I read say that the milk was on a feedback loop, so if I make more than I use, my body will make less?" Draco asked, sitting down on his bed as he attached the breast pumps to each nipple, because they were both leaking.

"Unfortunately the feedback loop doesn't always work perfectly. If you don't use the milk, your body may overcorrect and stop making enough milk. And in addition, the milk buildup is painful, so it is best to pump the extra and store it. If worse comes to worse and you consistently make too much and you build up a large supply of excess milk, you can store it and use it after you stop breast feeding. With two babies, it is unlikely that you'll always have enough milk for both of them, so in all likelihood, the excess milk will get used up."

"Yeah, I guess. Is there any way we can still go downstairs while I'm pumping?" Draco asked.

"Certainly. The pumping machine is portable and the pumps themselves will hold themselves in place, even with a small amount of movement. If you go slowly and carefully, I see no reason why we can't sit out on the heated patio," Severus replied.

"Can you get the baby then?" Draco asked as he grabbed the strap of the pumping machine and slung it over his shoulder.

"Yes and I'll just put the case of extra bottles in the basket on the underside of the carriage, so that we won't have to come back for more bottles," Severus said and he did.

Severus pushed the stroller down the stairs, and since it was a magical floating stroller, it had no difficulty staying level as he went, floating smoothly along in front of them. Draco brought up the rear, with the breast pumps on his chest and carrying the pumping machine by the strap on his shoulder.

Being the dead of winter, Severus stopped when they reached the sliding glass door to the patio and cast a warming charm on himself and the baby.

"What are you doing? Isn't the patio continuously warmed?" Draco asked.

"Yes, the patio is heated, but it's winter, Hyperion is a newborn baby, and the one heating charm will only heat the patio so much. I think a second heating charm should be sufficient," Severus said.

Draco agreed and then let Severus cast a heating charm specifically on Draco; not because he thought it would be too cold, but because he wasn't wearing his robes, due to the breast pumps. Then the three of them went outside and Draco and Severus sat at the table on the already heated patio; Hyperion's stroller rested by the side of the table where they both could easily reach it.

"How much of the cover story do you remember?" Severus began.

"Well I know that muggle men don't give birth. I remember that the plan was to say I had a girlfriend who gave birth at home and refused to come in."

"Sometimes muggles steal babies, so muggles always check out the story when someone shows up with a baby and no mother. That's why your parents are guarding Scorpius, so that no muggle tries to still him, and also why we must be so meticulous with our story. Sure we can confound one or two when it comes time to take Scorpius home, but the more we confound the larger the trace will be that we leave behind. There are a lot of muggles we will run into at the muggle-hospital and we cannot confound them all; we must convince the majority of them that things are as they seem."

"Alright. So what else have my parents told the muggles that I need to know?"

"They gave specific names that you need to memorize, but it's not just that: you need to know the cover story of your entire fake life. Where you were born. Where you live. Where you went to school. Where you met your girlfriend. What did you do on your first date. How did you fall in love. Why won't she come in. Where is she. Who is she. You need to know the story of your lives."

"Alright, so tell me."

"Your name is Drake Malcolm. Your parents are Nancy and Lawrence Malcolm. You were born and raised in Wiltshire, but your family recently moved into the guesthouse that is associated with this property, which is _not_ under the fidelius charm. You went to a boarding school in Scotland named Loretto. There are two schools there, a Junior school and a Senior school. You and your girlfriend both attended the Senior school together since the age of twelve. You did not attend the Junior school, because for that you went to a small private school in Wiltshire. Your girlfriend's name is Hermione Granger."

"What!?" Draco asked, waking the baby.

Severus picked Hyperion up and the baby quieted down, but remained awake. Hyperion didn't open his eyes for more than a second at a time, but he did flail his little arms around and kick at the nightgown he was wearing. It was one of those nightgowns that folded over at the hands to form built in little mittens. These mitten flaps were pulled down, to protect the newborn from his own hands, even though Draco had already trimmed the nails. It was a blue nightgown with a golden snitch print and Hyperion looked very regal in it, at least Severus thought so.

"The muggles are sure to check the story on the mother and if she's not a real person, they'll be suspicious sooner, rather than later. With Ms. Granger, we know the story fits and it might take them a week or more to check out our story," Severus said, cuddling the baby to his chest.

"And how exactly does Hermione fit?" Draco asked.

"She is a real person and muggles will have records of her. She went away to boarding school with you. She is the same age as you. She is in hiding and her parents will not have seen or heard from her in months; not since right around the time when the pregnancy became impossible to hide. She has real parents who can be questioned and who will verify that their daughter is missing. She had muggle neighbors who can also be questioned. It fits."

"Fine, assuming I would go out with a mudblood _girl_, what's the rest of the story?" Draco asked. He didn't like it, but Professor Snape had a point and he couldn't think of any better choices.

"We haven't decided on the details of your dating history. Perhaps you can make the details similar to the details of yours and Potter's relationship."

"Our first date was dinner in the room of requirement, looking out at the Pacific Ocean."

"So make that a picnic by the lake of your boarding school."

Draco and Severus spent the next hour going over the details of his supposed relationship with his girlfriend. Then Hyperion started fussing, so Draco took off one of the breast pumps to feed him and changed the glass collection bottles while he was at it. It was uncomfortable sitting up so straight while trying to breast feed, so they moved inside and he lounged on the sofa in the drawing room, while Severus pulled up an armchair. The baby fell asleep on his teat, so Draco handed Hyperion over to Severus to burp, while he reattached the breast pump.

The hour of pumping didn't seem to have helped, because if anything, Draco was producing _more_ milk now. It was gushing out of him in torrents and his pecks felt just as achingly full as before. "Isn't there a faster setting on this thing?" he asked, indicating the breast pump.

There was a higher setting. Severus summoned the instruction booklet, before turning it up and making the milk flow even faster. And since Draco was losing so much fluid, Severus made Draco drink several glasses of water and eat some ice cream, to keep his fluid and calorie intakes up. While Draco was eating and drinking, Severus noticed that Hyperion needed a nappy change and Draco was a bit shocked to see the professor changing a nappy; Severus didn't appear to be efficient at it, but he was at least proficient. And then the glass bottles on the breast pump were full and had to be changed, so that too was handled before they could resume their discussion of their cover story.

Since Severus was already holding Hyperion, he didn't bother putting the sleeping baby down in the stroller. He held Hyperion closely as he went over the details about why the alleged mother, Hermione Granger, would refuse to go to the hospital to have the babies. She didn't want them, didn't want her parents to know, and she was hoping that it would all just go away if she gave the babies to Draco and his parents to raise. She would go back to her parents and pretend she was never pregnant and had never had premarital sex. It was all for religious reasons.

Draco followed Professor Snape that far, but he had no knowledge regarding muggle religions or their inane morals. Thus the professor spent a great deal of time telling him about the religious beliefs of the Church of England and their imaginary deity, which for some reason he didn't quite understand, ordered all of the children to be virgins until marriage. Sex before marriage and pregnancy outside of wedlock being frowned upon he could understand, because the same was true in pureblood culture, but why some old guy in the sky was involved…well he just hoped the muggles wouldn't ask him that one, because he didn't get it.

Long before Severus was done with the lecture on muggle religion, the flow of milk leaving Draco's chest thankfully slowed down to only a trickle. Draco gratefully removed the contraption, set the filled bottles on a desk under a stasis charm, and sat back on the sofa, pulling an afghan over him to cover up, all the while he kept listening to Severus speak about muggles and their silly religion.

It was lunch time when Draco finally had a handle on muggle religion and for the first time in months, he took lunch in the dining room. Druella came down and ate with him, as did Severus, who conceded to putting the baby in the stroller while they ate.

While they ate, Severus went over muggle facts, such as they used the type of electricity found in lightning bolts to power muggles machines that did everything for them that magic did for wizards. They had electric lamps in the ceiling providing bright white light even in the dead of night. They had electric felly-tones to transmit the sound of their voice so that they could carry conversations over a wide range. They had electronic picture boxes to entertain them and perform calculations for them. And almost every other type of machine imaginable was powered by electricity instead of magic in the muggle world.

Draco was inordinately pleased to be eating at a proper table and he didn't even mind that Professor Snape was giving him a crash course in muggle studies or that he was eating the same yogurt, cheese sandwich, and glass of milk that he had been given sooo many times before. At least the butternut squash and rich cream soup was almost new. Draco looked around the table to see that no one else had nearly as much food on their plate. Neither his grandmother nor his old professor had the bowl of yogurt on the side and he began to wonder why that was.

"I'm not pregnant anymore; why are the elves still trying to fatten me up?" Draco asked, interrupting Professor Snape's lecture on how muggles made parchment out of trees. He still had a bulging belly, although it was quickly receding and he certainly felt fat enough.

"You are consuming a great number of calories when you express milk. You need to keep your food intake correspondingly high," Severus said.

"And you need to eat lots of nourishing food so your milk will have lots of nourishment for the babies too," Druella added.

Draco sighed and went back to eating his large meal and Professor Snape went back to his lecturing. Draco was just finishing off the last of his yogurt when Hyperion woke up crying. Draco took the baby back into the drawing room to feed again and he attached the breast pump to the other side while he was at it. He put the thing on the higher setting, so that he wouldn't be there all day again and was horrified to find that his milk was once again gushing forth from his body. Hyperion mustn't have drunk enough again, because his pecks were still engorged when he was done. He handed the baby off to Severus, attached the other side of the pump, and changed the bottle from the side Hyperion hadn't drunk from while he was at it.

Severus burped and changed Hyperion, but he had been up with Draco and the baby several times during the night and he was now feeling it. He blinked his weary eyes and stifled a yawn. He looked over to Draco and found that the boy was reclining on the sofa with his eyes closed. Minutes later Draco started snoring, proving that he had indeed fallen asleep while pumping breast milk. The milk was still flowing and the bottles were still fairly empty, so Severus decided to leave him be.

Taking the hint that it was nap time, Severus put a sleeping Hyperion into the stroller and strapped him in, before passing the stroller over to Druella and asking the old woman to watch her great grandson. Druella agreed and Severus went up to the nursery to take his nap in the spare bed.

* * *

Lucius woke up around three thirty in the afternoon and was back at the muggle-hospital by four. When he made it to the NHDU, Narcissa took him out down the hall and into a waiting room for the use of muggle families.

"The muggle-Aurors have gotten more impatient. I had one who called himself an inspector question me. He said he wants to see Drake and the other baby _today_ and preferably the mother too, or he's going out to our residence to speak to them. A muggle-healer was with him and said that he really does need to examine the other baby today. I had to agree to get them when you came back," Narcissa told him.

"Alright, we can handle this. Do you think they'll follow me? Is it that bad yet?" Lucius asked.

"No, not yet. They haven't even stopped by the guesthouse. We should probably make it look like it's been lived in lately in case they do stop by. And add some dirty nappies and baby blankets."

"Yes, alright, someone can work on that after we get this interview over with. I'll go back and get Draco and Hyperion. I'll have Severus help me side along them here."

"We don't want more people involved than the minimum."

"Yes, I'll send Severus back home. Maybe he can work on preparing the guesthouse."

"Yes, that should work," Narcissa agreed.

And so Narcissa went back into the NHDU to sit with her grandson. "My husband is going back home to get our son and the first baby," Narcissa told the nurse in French. The nurse told the muggle-healer, who called the muggle-Auror, the one who called himself an inspector, who passed the message back that he'd be right over.

Lucius went back to the villa and informed his family of the plan. Draco, having been woken up from his afternoon nap by Hyperion an hour earlier, was just finishing up breast pumping and his milk was thankfully drying up a bit. Severus changed Hyperion into an overly large muggle cloth nappy and packed a nappy bag with only muggle-appropriate things, while Lucius helped Draco get dressed in muggle-appropriate clothes for the trip and gave Draco a muggle identification card with the name Drake Malcolm.

Severus took Hyperion to their usual apparition point down the street from the muggle-hospital via side along and Lucius took Draco. Severus handed Hyperion over to Draco and went back to the guesthouse, as planned. Lucius walked into the hospital and led his family into the NHDU, where Narcissa and Scorpius were waiting.

Narcissa hugged Draco and introduced him in French to Scorpius' nurse and explained to the nurse that Drake didn't speak good French.

"Hello mam, can I hold Scorpius?" in English, was the first thing out of Draco's mouth. Sure he had been to France dozens of times, but always to his family's villa and never out and about with muggles. His parents had encouraged him to learn French, but he had always been fascinated with Hawaiian and more exotic sounding languages; French just sounded like the speaker had a nasal infection. Thus Draco's French was _very_ limited and he didn't bother trying.

Narcissa translated and the nurse agreed. Narcissa took Hyperion, and Draco was sent to get changed into muggle-healer clothes, with Lucius' assistance. While Draco and Lucius were gone, a muggle-healer came over to Narcissa and Hyperion and asked to examine the baby. Narcissa agreed and Hyperion was moved over to an opened top glass muggle-box on a cart. Narcissa stood back as the muggle-healer removed Hyperion's clothes and nappy and examined the baby. Then he took a few measurements along with the weight, which he recorded in a muggle-folder. He seemed especially interested in measuring the penis and as he did it, he explained in French, "He seems to have the same penile defect as the other baby. I just want to take measurements of it to put in his chart. He isn't but a few inches longer than Scorpius, but he has already grown into his penis a bit more than the other baby."

"I don't believe it to be a problem; it'll sort itself out eventually," Narcissa insisted, also in French.

When the muggle-healer was done, he stood back and said, "Other than the one birth defect, this little guy seems to be in excellent health; you really lucked out with this one, it would seem. I'm just going to take a pinprick of blood to send off for testing and then you can dress him and take him home."

"Why do you need to draw blood? There's nothing wrong with him." Narcissa didn't want her grandson to suffer through an unnecessary muggle test.

"It's standard procedure; we test all newborn babies for a common genetic disease that can be easily treated with a change of diet. If he has it, it's best to know right away."

In that case Narcissa didn't think she could get Hyperion out of the test without arousing more suspicion and the whole point of this visit was to diminish muggle-suspicion. Thus she agreed, Hyperion was pricked with a pin and started screaming. She picked him up to comfort him.

Draco heard his baby screaming and ran out of the changing room without the hat of the muggle-outfit tied on. The hat fell off, but Lucius picked it up and followed after Draco.

"What happened mother? Why was he screaming like that?" Draco asked in English, taking Hyperion from Narcissa and comforting the baby who was already quieting down.

"It was a small pinprick test that the healer here insisted needed to be done. It's over and he's fine; I'm sure he's already forgotten about it," Narcissa said and indeed, Hyperion was already quiet again.

"Well I wish you would've waited for me mother," Draco said, upset that the muggle-healer had hurt his baby.

"Alright, I'll wait for you next time. Now why don't you give me Hyperion back to dress and you can go hold Scorpius?" Narcissa asked.

Hearing the promise of the one thing he had come for, Draco handed Hyperion back over to his mother and allowed Lucius to lead him across the room to the glass box where his other son was waiting. Lucius tied the muggle-hat onto Draco's head and the muggle-nurse gave Draco a pair of weird muggle-gloves to put on. And then Draco sat in the chair his mother had been in. The muggle-nurse removed a very tiny black haired baby from the glass box and placed him into Draco's arms.

Scorpius was _much_ smaller than Hyperion and he had tubes shoved down his throat, obscuring his face. Draco looked around the tubes and observed a very Malfoy-esque set of features, from the little black eyebrows, to the fine cheeks, to the pointy chin, the entire face looked like a smaller version of his own newborn pictures.

"He's beautiful," Draco said and at the sound of his voice, a pair of light grey eyes opened up and looked in his direction. "Hello Scorpius, I'm your father and I love you very much. I hope you're not in much pain with that tube down your throat, but unfortunately I'm told that you need it."

The muggle-nurse said something in French and Lucius repeated it in English for Draco. "She said the larger tube is the respirator and it forces air into his lungs, helping him to breathe. The smaller tube is delivering the breast milk directly to his stomach. Then she said that he's an adorable baby, which is obviously true; even a muggle could see that."

"Thank you," Draco replied and continued to hold his baby. His father didn't need to translate that, because the muggle knew enough English to understand.

Scorpius was naked except for an overly large cloth nappy and he had some sort of patch on his chest that was connected to wires. "What's this for?" Draco asked.

Lucius translated the question and the muggle replied back in French, which Lucius then translated to English. "That's to measure his heart rate. It connects to that machine over there and displays his heart rate here. An alarm will go off if it peaks or crashes."

"Alright," Draco replied and let his eyes travel lower, taking in the sight of the malformed left leg for the first time. It was as long as the right one and it was obviously a bit thinner, but not horribly thin and he didn't really see how it was bowed, although he could see that the foot was indeed turned in. He silently promised his son that he was going to kill Ronald Weasley for doing this to him.

Draco got to hold his baby for half an hour and was even permitted to change Scorpius' nappy. It was more difficult than changing Hyperion's nappy, because the muggles didn't have nappies with wizard-space charms on them and were instead using giant cloth nappies and folding the extra fabric to cover the little, or abnormally large, as the muggles would call it, penis. Scorpius certainly didn't take after Harry in that department.

But then a muggle-Auror came in with the muggle-Inspector and they asked Draco in English to come into a private room down the hall to meet with them alone. Draco went, leaving Scorpius in the care of the muggle-nurse and Hyperion with his mother. The room was an empty patient room with a bed and a couple of armchairs. Draco sat in one of the armchairs and the muggle-Auror and the muggle-Inspector stood. The muggles asked to see his identification card, which Draco showed them. They looked at it for several minutes, copying down all of the information into their notepad, before quizzing Draco on the details of Drake Malcolm's life that could be garnered from the card, such as when his birth date was. Then the muggles asked him all of the same questions he had gone over earlier with Professor Snape and some trivial ones they hadn't. Draco tried to repeat all of the answers as perfectly as he could and he was pretty good at making up lies on the spot, which helped him with the questions he wasn't familiar with. And if he needed more time, he just pretended to have trouble with understanding the French accents.

Draco began to wonder if the muggle-Aurors were very stupid, because they kept asking him the same questions over and over again. Or at the very least, they weren't as proficient in the English language as they claimed. The most often repeated question was, "Why won't ze mother come in for ze ex-zaminatión?" It didn't seem to matter how many times Draco said she didn't want anyone to know she had given birth or had even been pregnant, because they would just ask him again, only changing the infliction or switching the words around.

But what really made the muggles sound stupid was when they asked him, "Where did oo get ze babiez from Mr. Malcolm?"

"My girlfriend gave birth to them! Where else would babies come from? If you don't believe me, why don't you go in that big room and take a look at Scorpius; he looks just like me," Draco insisted, wondering where muggles thought babies came from.

"Features are difficult oo distinguish wiz young babeez. What we'd like to do, if you'll let uz, iz a DNA test to determine paternity," the muggle-Inspector said.

"A what?" Draco asked confused.

"A DNA paternity test."

"What's that?"

"It iz a test where we take a sample of your DNA and a zample from each babee and we zee if zey match. If zey match, oo are ze father. If oo are ze father, zey'll match."

"What's dee-in-ea?" Draco asked.

"DNA iz a molecule in your body zat instructs your body on 'ow to make oo. Sperm contain the father'z DNA and deliver it to ze egg during conceptión. Ze baby will alwayz have ze father's DNA az well az the mother'z. Understand?"

"Um, sort of. How will you collect this dee-in-ea?" Draco asked.

"Well zat'z ze problem with Scorpius, iz it not?" the muggle-Inspector asked and Draco nodded. "Scorpius iz too lettle to test. But we can test ze other one and we can certainly test oo. If your DNA matches ze other baby's DNA, zen we'll know oo are ze father of zat baby and probably ze father of Scorpius too."

"And that would be good enough?" Draco wondered.

"Well zat and ze doctor informed us zat Scorpius 'az a birth defect zat your parentz claim runz in ze family. If oo can demonstrate to ze doctor zat you 'ave ze same birth defect and oo zubmit DNA from yourzelf and from ze other baby, we will let oo and the other baby go. We'll take ze zamplez back to ze lab and test zem. If zey match, we won't bother oo again. If zey don't match, we'll come looking for oo and both babiez."

"Alright, but you still haven't told me how you get dee-in-ea. If it's inside our bodies, how are you going to get it outside our bodies without hurting Hyperion?"

"It iz a zimple blood test. Oo give a zample of your blood and ze doctor will take a zample from, what did oo call him?"

"Hyperion."

"Can I just call 'im Ryan? Your British Zifi namez are a bit 'ard for an old French man."

Draco didn't understand what the muggle was talking about, but he figured it was a muggle thing and therefore best to pretend like he did understand. In the end he agreed because it was the easiest course of action. He let the muggle-Aurors call his first born son Ryan and he agreed to give blood and submit his "birth defect" for examination. When they were finished with him, he would let them draw a sample of blood from Hyperion.

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Author's Note: Next chapter will contain a lot of drama. Draco will have to reveal a full sized Peverell penis to a muggle and get his blood drawn. And if there is a problem, they can't run, because Scorpius is still on that respirator.

BTW, I recently heard that Jo Rowling is writing another book and movie deal based on Newt Scarmander's life in the 1920s. I'm so excited!

Please Review!


	9. Chapter 9

Once Draco agreed to the testing, the muggle-Inspector and the muggle-Auror left and Draco waited alone in the room for five to ten minutes. Then two new muggles came in. One introduced himself as Dr. Leroy, in English, thankfully, since Draco didn't have his parents to translate. The other didn't introduce himself, but motioned for him to pull up his sleeve. He did and the muggle tied a giant rubber band around his arm, before inserting a needle into a vein on the upper-side of his elbow and drawing a vial of blood.

The muggle disposed of the needle and left with the vial of blood, and the other muggle, the one who had introduced himself as a healer, laid out a pile of cloth and said, "Here, put this on and I'll be right back, yes?"

"But I'm already wearing one of your uniforms," Draco protested, since he was still in the get-up they had given him to hold Scorpius.

"This is an examination gown. It's different, yes?" muggle-Dr. Leroy asked, holding up a very thin robe with a slit all down the back. "The slit goes in the back and you don't have to make tie it. Take off all your undergarments, yes?"

"Um, yes, okay," Draco agreed, not really understanding. "But what are you going to do?"

"Make examination of you, of course. The baby has a certain birth defect on his penis and you claim to have the same defect, yes?"

"Yes."

"I just need to see it. Then you can put your clothes back on and I can make report of my findings back to the Inspector, yes?"

"Alright." Draco stood up to start taking the first set of muggle clothes off, but he did it too quickly and he had just given blood, not to mention all of the blood lost during the birth, so he was a bit woozy and stumbled.

Dr. Leroy caught Draco in his arms and asked, "Are you alright? Here, sit back down." Draco sat. "You are very thin; you are feeling light headed, yes?

"Yes," Draco admitted, seemingly caught by the muggle.

"I will get you some juice. Just lie back for a minute, yes, sometimes drawing blood can make this, especially in rather slender people. Have you ever make blood drawn before?"

"Not that I recall." He didn't want to outright say no, in case giving blood samples was normal for muggles.

"Well you are young and healthy, yes, so there is little need. Just lie back and I'll make with the juice."

Draco lay back and waited a minute for the doctor to return with a carton of juice, which he then drank.

"Do you get light-headed often?" the muggle-healer asked and Draco was sure this was a trick question.

If Draco said no, the muggle-healer would think this was unusual for Draco, that there was something wrong with him, and therefore needed more muggle-tests. If he said yes, well that wouldn't be normal either and would require more tests. Either way, he was screwed. He ended going with, "Um, not often."

"But sometimes, yes?"

"Yes."

"When? Is there any activity that normally makes you feel light-headed?"

"Shagging," Draco admitted.

"Yes, with that defect, shagging would make it, yes?"

"Yes," Draco answered, wondering why this muggle ended every _bloody_ sentence with yes? At least his English was better than the muggle-Auror.

"You are feeling better now, yes?"

"Yes."

"Good, then just change for me and I'll be right back."

This time Draco waited until the muggle was out of the room, just in case, before getting up. He pulled the weird thin gown he had worn to hold Scorpius off and then he removed his own clothes. He took his socks off, but the muggle floor was cold, so he put them back on. Then he folded his clothes into a pile on the bedside table and made sure his wand was hidden in his trousers, but still close enough that he could grab it in case of an emergency.

The muggle-Dr. Leroy came back in and this time he had one of the muggle-folders that the muggle-healers had used to record the twins' information. "Alright, first I need to make your blood pressure, yes?" he asked, pulling out a blue thing with a black cord that had been left in a bin attached to the wall.

"Um, no, didn't you already take my blood?"

"Yes, but this is different. I am making the pressure of your blood now, yes? This cuff goes around your arm and measures the pressure, without extracting any blood out, yes?" Dr. Leroy asked. He hadn't been planning on doing tests, but after the patient's dizzy spell, he thought he ought to do a few tests and make sure the young man wasn't dehydrated.

"Oh, in that case, yeah, go ahead," Draco said holding his arm out. He was a bit chilly and wished that the warming charm from this morning was still in place.

"Oi, that really hurts!" Draco complained as the muggle inflated the cuff.

The muggle pulled out a listening device from around his neck and pressed it to Draco's arms, ignoring his complaint. The air drained out of the cuff slowly and within a minute it was over and no longer hurt. Then the cuff was off and the muggle was writing something down in the muggle-folder.

The muggle said, "I need to listen to your heart beat, yes?" and put the listening device to Draco's chest. When the healer was done, he wrote that too in the muggle-folder.

"Your heart beat is good, but your blood pressure is a bit low, yes? That is why you make easily dizzy, yes?"

"Um, if you say so."

"I say so, yes. I need to look into your eyes," the muggle said, putting the blue cuff away and grabbing a short, but thick, metal wand.

The muggle-healer added a black pointy covering to the already pointy tip and came back over to Draco with the tip glowing like a lumos spell. Draco tried to get a look at the object, wondering about what sort of magic the muggles were using to light the metal wand, but the muggle pulled his eyelids back and blinded him with the light-wand. "Oi, watch it," he complained.

"Sorry, but I had to look, yes? You are dehydrated and possibly anemic; you need to drink more fluids, yes?" the muggle asked, turning the light-wand off and putting it back.

"Yeah, sure."

The muggle healer went to the door and called out to another muggle to bring him a pitcher of water and a glass, before coming back to Draco. "How is your urine? It is dark, yes?"

"My what? I hardly see what that has to do with anything!" Draco protested. He still had the long-term urine vanishing charm in place and hadn't peed in months. The muggle could poke and prod him, but he wouldn't have any urine to show for it.

"When you are dehydrated, the body makes dark urine. When you go, I want you to watch it and if it is a bright yellow, increase your water intake. It should be a pale yellow, yes?"

"Yeah, okay, I'll watch it," Draco lied, just happy that the muggle didn't want to see it.

"Good. Now I am going to make your temperature, yes?" The muggle-healer grabbed an off-white colored box with a metal rod and was covering it with a glass sleeve when the door opened and a muggle-nurse came in with an obscenely ugly opaque pink colored pitcher and a matching pink cup. She set the pitcher and the cup on a rolling table which she pushed over toward the bed where Draco sat, before leaving and closing the door behind her.

"Um, alright, but where are you going to stick that?" Draco asked, staring at the metal rod, but his eyes were also flickering to the egregiously ugly pitcher and wondering what it was made out of. It didn't seem to be glass, metal, ceramic, wood, leather, or cloth, because none of those materials could be molded into something so displeasing to the ocular senses. Maybe wood covered in paint could…but even then, this pitcher didn't look to be made out of wood.

"Under your tongue, yes?"

"Yes," Draco agreed and let the muggle stick the metal rod in his mouth.

It was over a second later and the muggle was writing something else down with a stick that didn't need an ink pot. Draco began to wonder what sort of magic was being used to refill the stick-quill, which got him really curious, because muggles weren't supposed to have any magic. He really wanted to ask the muggle-healer about it and about the pitcher and the light-wand, but then magic writing sticks and all the other items were probably common in the muggle world and he didn't want to seem like he didn't know what they were. Maybe he could get one of the writing sticks and take it home to experiment with. If he could get it open, he was sure he could figure out how it worked.

"Your temperature is normal. This is good, yes?" the muggle asked, looking up and noticing the curious expression on his patient's face.

"Yes."

"Good. You can drink while I measure you, yes?" the muggle asked, pouring water out of the ugly pitcher and handing the cup to Draco.

Draco began drinking the water. While he drank, he noticed that the ugly material was extremely light and felt flimsy, like maybe it had been made out of stiffened paper. Perhaps muggles had found some way to harden paper into this horrendously ugly material.

"Then if you'll lie back and lift up your gown, I'll just make some measurements, yes?"

"I guess," Draco answered, finishing off the cup of water and hoping the man didn't want to see him hard, because weird old muggles who ended every sentence with the word yes weren't doing it for him.

Draco lay back, lifted up the thin muggle-robe and waited while the muggle took out a measuring tape and measured his bits."

"This is functional, with the ladies, yes?"

"Um, yeah," Draco lied. It was functional with the men, but the muggle didn't need to know about his sexuality.

"It seems like it would be too big to fit. Even if it didn't get any wider than this, it is still quite large, yes?"

"Yes. Well it didn't fit initially; we had to work at it, but then it fit," Draco admitted.

"And you don't have any trouble walking with this getting in the way, yes?"

"Well it doesn't get in the way when my pants hold it out of the way."

"Alright, I have enough measurements. I will tell the Inspector that you have the same birth defect, yes?" the muggle asked, looking up at Draco and pulling the robe back down to cover Draco's bits. "What is this?" The muggle was pointing at Draco's chest and Draco looked down in horror to see that he was leaking breast milk again.

'Bloody muggles are taking too long,' Draco grumbled to himself, but didn't have an answer for the muggle.

The muggle healer pulled the top of Draco's robe away, and since it wasn't tied, it came away easily. "Stay lying back; I need to make examination of your chest, yes?"

"Um, no, I'd really rather you not," Draco said, suddenly finding some words and pulling his chest further back, to try to move his chest further away from the muggle. He had been propped up with his elbows behind him, but now he lay all the way back and attempted to use his hands to protect his chest. It did not occur to him to jump up and leave and after all, whether the stupid muggle-Aurors would let him leave with his babies or not was at stake here.

"You are expressing breast milk, yes?" the muggle asked, looking closely at Draco's deformed nipples and then pressing on Draco's small, swollen breasts.

"Uh, no." Draco tried to deny it, but then the muggle squeezed his sensitive nipple and a heavy stream of milk shot forth. "Ow! Stop that!"

"I am sorry. Your breasts are very full and you need to express milk, yes?" the muggle asked, before moving his hands lower, pressing on his lower abdomen.

"Ow, that hurts too. Can you please stop touching me?" Draco asked, reaching for his wand and wondering when would be the right moment for a confundus charm.

"You make birth to both babies, yes?"

"No, I told you, it was my girlfriend. You know, a _girl_, yes? With girl parts that can do that type of thing, yes?"

"No, you have girl parts. Your uterus is still swollen, as if you make birth a few days ago. You are lactating. You are the mother and you didn't want to come in, because you didn't want people to know that you are a hermaphrodite, yes?"

"No, I don't even know what you're talking about!"

"A hermaphrodite is someone who has both male and female parts. You have the penis and the ballocks, but you also have a uterus and malformed, yet functional, breasts, yes?"

"No! I most certainly do not." Draco had his wand by his side now and was considering obliviating the muggle; he was trying to think of what memory would be best to implant into the muggle's mind to replace the lost one.

"It's alright, this is confidential, yes? I will not tell anyone other than the Inspector. He only needs to know so that they know you didn't steal the babies. They will keep it confidential too. No one needs to know, yes?"

"Yes, no one needs to know," Draco agreed, deciding to wait to see where the muggle was going with this, because apparently there was a muggle condition that would explain how a male could give birth. Maybe muggles had Peverell men too.

"Good. I will write this down and file it away. The Inspector will write it down and file it away and no one else will ever find out, yes?"

"Yes."

"Your parents already know, yes?" the muggle was done poking and prodding Draco's chest and handed Draco the top of the muggle-robe to cover back up with, before pouring Draco another cup of water and handing it to Draco.

"Yes."

"Of course they had to know; someone had to deliver the babies, yes?"

"Yes."

"You are very thin; you haven't make eating enough, yes?"

"No, I've been eating plenty and I'm still all pudgy."

"That is from the shrinking uterus, but you yourself are very frail; you were dizzy after drawing only one vial of blood, yes? You need to eat and drink more while you are breast feeding, yes? You will make drinking the water now, yes?"

"Yes, fine, but I already eat all the bloody time," Draco grumbled before taking another sip of his second glass of water.

"That is good, but you need to eat and drink _more_. You are dehydrated and if you are anemic, then you need to take iron. You take vitamins, yes?"

"Huh?" Draco wasn't sure what a-knee-mic or vi-ta-mens were or what they had to do with iron. And once he had the iron, where was he supposed to take it?

"You are making vitamins during your pregnancy, yes?"

"Uh, no, I don't think so."

"You need to be making vitamins. Now that you are breast feeding, you need to make the vitamins so that you have vitamins in your milk for your babies. If you didn't make them during pregnancy, then it is even more important to make them now, yes?"

"And how would I make these vitamins?" Draco asked, thinking that if he had the directions, he could figure out what they were or ask his parents about them.

"At the pharmacy or the grocery store, yes? They sell them over the counter, but I can make you a sample, yes?"

"Yes, I'd like a sample."

"A multivitamin, a calcium, and an iron-supplement should make good, yes?"

"Iron?"

"For the anemia, yes?"

"A-knee-me-a?"

"Anemia is when the body does not produce enough red blood cells to carry oxygen to the body's cells, yes? Red blood cells need iron to carry oxygen, so patients who are anemic need to make iron every day, yes?"

"Make the iron how?"

"You swallow the iron pill, yes?"

"Uh no, I can't swallow iron."

"And why not? You are not allergic, no?"

"I'm not allergic, but iron is a metal and if I were to swallow metal it would just pass right through me or get stuck and then I'd be stuck with a pellet of iron in me forever."

"No, not a pellet of iron, a pill. It contains a form of iron that is easily digestible. It dissolves in your stomach, your body absorbs the iron, and then your body uses it to make more red blood cells. Then you will not be anemic and you will not have dizzy spells, yes?"

"Do you have a sample of that I could see too?"

"Yes, I can make you samples. You will make them and then you will go to the pharmacy and buy more, yes?"

"Alright, yes," Draco agreed, as long as he didn't have to swallow the things in front of the muggle, he could take them home and find out if they were poisonous or not.

"I will be right back with the samples and you drink your water, yes?" the muggle-Dr. Leroy asked. When Draco agreed and took another sip of the water, the muggle-healer left the room for a minute and came back with several small cards. Draco set down the empty cup and the muggle handed the samples to Draco. "These ones are the multivitamin, these are calcium, and the little ones are the iron, yes?"

"Yes."

"Make one of each a day with food, yes?"

"Yes," Draco pretended to agree, looking at the strange cards dotted with little pills. On one side the card looked like it was coated with a thin layer of glass, because he could see through it to the vi-ta-mens and the other side seemed to have a foil wrapper. He wondered how he was supposed to peel back the foil to get the pills out, but he had already let on about his ignorance of too many muggle things today and that problem could wait until later. On the other hand, the muggle hadn't explained what the third type of pill was. "What's cal-see-um?"

"Calcium makes strong bones. Growing babies need calcium in their milk for their bones to be strong. You want strong babies, yes?"

"Yes, alright, I'll do all three.

"Good, then the only thing else I need is to make a pelvic exam, yes?" Dr. Leroy asked. He hadn't been planning on examining anything more on this patient than the alleged birth defect. Even when Drake Malcolm had the episode of dizziness he had thought it was a simple case of dehydration and only warranted a few tests. But now that he knew his patient was a hermaphrodite and had just given birth, he had no choice but to make a full exam; it was hospital policy, after all.

"What's that?"

"That is where I make examination of your vagina and uterus, or your pelvic region, yes?"

"Um, no."

"I need to make sure that the placenta was delivered and that you are healing properly, yes?"

"No! I'm healed fine and I already delivered _two_ placentas. There are no more."

"Yes, but it is hospital policy to perform a pelvic exam on all new mothers, yes?"

"No, I'm not a new mother; I'm the new father."

"Who is the other father? Certainly not the girl you told the Inspector about, yes?"

"Yes, not her. A boy from my school."

"Does he know?"

"Yes."

"Can you bring him in? Is he at home?"

"No, he's still at school in Scotland."

"The Inspector can call him, yes?"

"No, he can bloody well not call him!"

"Why not? He knows, yes?"

"Yes."

"Then his parents don't know, yes?"

"His parents are dead; he's an orphan."

"So whoever looks after him doesn't know, yes?"

"Yes."

"Well we can't tell them, because we make it confidential, yes?"

"Yes."

"Alright, then I just need to do the pelvic exam and you can go breast feed those babies of yours, yes?"

Draco had thought they had settled that with a no, but now he realized that a simple confundus charm was in order. He quickly cast the charm and then hid his wand under his muggle-robe.

"Um, sorry, I was just going to make your examination, yes?"

"No, you just did it. It was normal, yes? You said there were no more placentas and all was healing fine, yes?"

"Ah yes, I said that then, yes?"

"Yes, you did."

"Oh yes, then everything is fine, yes?"

"Yes."

"I'll have them bring the baby to you so that you can breast feed in here, yes? And I'll go explain what is happening to the Inspector, yes?"

"Yes," Draco agreed, breathing out a sigh of relief that the confundus had worked and he wouldn't have to try obliviating someone. Sure he threatened doing it enough, but he had never actually tried it and he didn't want to turn the muggle into a vegetable who was so far gone that he couldn't remember that Draco and the babies should be allowed to go home.

"You may make dressing now, yes?" Dr. Leroy asked and Draco agreed. "And drink more of the water, yes?"

Dr. Leroy instructed Nancy Malcolm to bring Hyperion into the room that Drake was waiting in and he asked a nurse to bring Drake a breast pump, so that Drake could express milk for Scorpius. Then he asked Lawrence Malcolm and the two fellows from the police to meet him in his office. He sat down at his desk, Lawrence sat down in a chair opposite him, and the police officers stood. "Gentlemen, I have finished making my examination and not only does Mr. Drake Malcolm have the same birth defect, but he also has another that will make an explanation for what has happened here and mean that you don't even need to make DNA testing, yes? You won't need to make a blood sample from either baby, yes?" he asked.

"And 'ow do oo figure zat?" the muggle-Inspector asked.

"Mr. Drake Malcolm _is_ the mother. He didn't want to come forward, because he doesn't want anyone to know of his condition, but I make a thorough exam and I am positive that he has just given birth, yes?"

Lucius was a bit shocked over what the muggle was saying and was gripping his wand, trying to judge which order to obliviate the muggles in. The muggle-Aurors had muggle weapons, so they would have to be first, but which one of the muggle-Aurors to do first? There wouldn't be time to obliviate one before the other pulled his weapon, so then he started thinking about which order to stun them in.

"No, 'ow can zat be?" the muggle-Inspector asked.

"He is a hermaphrodite. He has both male and female parts, yes?" the muggle-healer asked.

Lucius had a stupefy on the tip of his tongue for the muggle-Inspector when he was momentarily stunned to learn that the muggles had a term, and likely an explanation, for Draco's condition. Then he realized that just maybe he wouldn't have to stun or obliviate any muggles today after all. Obviously there were enough squibs with the Peverell traits around for the muggles to be familiar with the concept.

The muggle-Inspector was in disbelief at first, but after several minutes of technical muggle explanation from the muggle-healer, the muggle-Inspector was sold. "Bugger, zat lettle zit iz a good liar; 'e 'ad me buying 'iz story zat ze mum plum run off and come to find out 'e'z ze mum and 'e'z right in front of uz all along," the muggle-Inspector said under his breath.

"Sirs, I would like to request that you not repeat this information to anyone," Lucius requested.

"I make my report confidential, meaning only you, your wife, and your son can see it, with the exception of this incident requiring me to turn in a copy to these police officers," the muggle-healer said.

"And what of you? Is your report confidential?" Lucius asked the muggle-Aurors.

"Your zon iz under the age of eighteen, which meanz my report will be zealed by the courtz. Zo yez, it will be confidential."

"Excellent. Thank you very much gentlemen. I'm glad we could get this all straightened out," Lucius said.

The muggles did a bit more talking after that with the muggle-Inspector saying it would be best to get the blood sample from the larger baby just in case and the muggle-healer saying that the larger baby was not large enough to undergo unnecessary blood tests, when he had proof of maternity. Hyperion, at six pounds two ounces, was still quite small even for a newborn and the vile of blood that was needed for a test was a lot of blood to take from a baby that size. The muggle-healer won the argument and the muggle-Inspector agreed that they would not need to do the paternity test, because after all this was a case of maternity. Drake Malcolm had passed the maternity test and that was sufficient. Plus Dr. Leroy wanted Drake's vial of blood to run tests on to check for anemia and he didn't think Drake was healthy enough to have a second vial drawn from him.

Lucius was free to go and best of all, he was free and clear to take his family home: his entire family, including the babies. Well Scorpius had to stay a while yet, but legally Lucius could take him home as soon as the baby was released from the hospital.

Lucius went back to his usual chair by Scorpius' side. Fifteen minutes later, Narcissa and Draco came back with Hyperion, ready to go home. Draco was allowed to put on a pair of muggle-gloves and reach into the glass muggle-box to touch Scorpius and say goodbye.

Draco, Narcissa, and Hyperion left, walking out of the hospital and around the corner before Narcissa apparated Hyperion home, depositing him in the crib before going back seconds later for Draco. With the pregnancy, he hadn't had a chance to get his apparition license. Severus was sleeping in the spare bed in the nursery, so Draco went to his bedroom and set the breast pumps working, because he had only expressed just enough milk at the hospital to get the leaking to stop long enough to go home. Well it didn't completely stop, but the muggle nurses had come in and given him some pads to put over his nipples to catch the drips and his jumper was tight enough that it held the pads in place.

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Author's Note: They've fooled the muggles, so if they can just stay under the radar of the wizarding world, they'll be in the clear. What did you think of all of the drama in this chapter?


	10. Chapter 10

Author's Note: This site has not been functioning properly for me. This took me HOURS to upload. In fact, I had it ready for you guys on SATURDAY and have been trying to get the site to function since then. Okay, so I still couldn't get this to post at home on my pc, so now that I'm at work on a mac, I'm going to try again. UPDATE- I've discovered a bit of malware disguising itself as a toolbar which specifically high-jacked fanfiction. All the other sites were working fine and it was only fanfiction affected. Now that it's deleted, fanfiction is once more working properly!

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From then on Draco was taken by side along apparition to the muggle-hospital each day to spend a few precious moments with Scorpius. The visits were never long, just fifteen to thirty minutes when his parents were changing shifts; his mother would take him there and his father would bring him back or the other way around.

Draco's visits with Scorpius weren't outwardly special or magical, but to him they were. Sure he was just going there to hold a baby, but he was holding _his_ baby. His Scorpius wasn't like any other baby; Scorpius looked like a miniature version of himself and the baby was just so incredibly tiny. His heart ached for that baby when he wasn't there holding Scorpius and his heart soared when he was. He began to live for those few minutes each day that he would spend with his second son.

Draco was convinced that his feelings were not one sided, because it seemed little Scorpius lived for him too. The baby spent most of the day asleep, sleeping far more hours than Hyperion, but Scorpius always woke up when _Draco_ was there. Scorpius only ever opened his eyes a few times a day, but Scorpius always opened those grey eyes when _Draco_ was there talking to his baby. Scorpius would by all indications be sound asleep and then Draco would arrive and speak a few words and the baby would be awake, opening eyes and moving little limbs.

By Thursday Scorpius' muggle-nurse could even see it and was saying that Scorpius knew his father's voice. Of course Narcissa and Lucius had to translate for her, because she spoke French and Draco still didn't, but the effect was not lost; it made Draco feel special to know that everyone could see that such a precious being was as much enthralled with him as he was with his baby.

Draco was enthralled with Hyperion too, not just Scorpius. When he wasn't in the hospital with Scorpius, he was at home with Hyperion, taking care of Hyperion and talking to his baby. But then he had all day with his first born, while he only had minutes with his second, so his love for his second born was made all the more intense for the fact that it was crammed into such a short period of time.

At home Druella and Severus continued to help with Hyperion. Severus more so than Druella, but when everyone else was napping, Druella would take her turn with her great grandson. She was old, but definitely not feeble and she certainly took a liking to the small baby; Severus just took an even greater liking. Severus was absolutely enraptured by the small features that were so distinctly Lily's and so absolutely _not_ James Potter's. He could just imagine Potter looking down on them, seeing Lily's grandson in Severus' arms and looking up at Severus with those big eyes; oh how enraged Potter would be.

Draco, being the father and the one breast feeding Hyperion, obviously came first, but Severus got in a lot of quality time with the baby. After all, Draco couldn't do a hundred percent of the childcare, because he had other things to do; Draco had to visit Scorpius in the hospital, take naps to catch up on sleep missed during the night and to regain his strength, and pump breast milk. The breast pump was portable and handless, but it still got in the way of Draco holding his baby and it made other chores, like changing nappies, more difficult. And well, Severus was all too eager to step up and fill in when needed, getting his share of Hyperion's time.

Hyperion, like his younger brother, obviously preferred Draco to everyone else. He would spend several hours during the day awake, spread out with lots of naps in between, so both Severus and Druella got to spend time with Hyperion while he was awake. But even then, he seemed to make a special effort to seek Draco out, to wake up when Draco was holding him or when Draco was talking to him. The baby couldn't hold eye contact yet or even focus, but he seemed to seek out Draco's face and stare at his father with those wide dark grey eyes of his. Well his eyes weren't super dark, but they were several shades darker than Draco's and Scorpius' eyes and already turning blue.

To Draco, the most amazing thing Hyperion would do was when the baby's tiny head would turn to look in the direction Draco's voice was coming from. Severus or Druella would be holding the baby while Draco pumped, Draco would say something, and Hyperion's head would turn. Often Hyperion's eyes would open too, like he was trying to spot his father. It was the kind of heartwarming moment Draco lived for these days; the type of moment that made him glad he had kids.

Hyperion and Scorpius both put on a bit of weight; an ounce for Scorpius and three ounces for Hyperion. Scorpius was still getting all of his nutrition through the feeding tube, but his allotment of milk had gone up and they were now feeding the little guy three quarters of an ounce every two hours. Hyperion, on the other hand, was being solely breastfed, so they didn't know exactly how much he was eating. Draco started to measure the milk pumped from the other side while Hyperion was eating, as the best comparison he had available and by that measure, Hyperion was drinking a lot; two or more ounces every two hours; it was no wonder he was gaining weight so quickly.

Draco was still producing enough milk for both babies, and then some. They had a shelf of full bottles under stasis charms. In fact, they'd run out of bottles, needed more, and so were alse using a storage vat. A house elf who worked on the dairy processing side of the villa had retrieved the large dairy barrel, which was cleaned out of cow milk, thoroughly sanitized, and repurposed. The barrel already had an extremely strong stasis charm on it that could hold milk for years without spoilage or degradation, so it was perfect. Once a day a house elf would take all of the filled bottles and dump the milk into the barrel. Then the bottles would be cleaned, sterilized, and sent back for reuse.

Draco was starting to feel like a dairy cow the way he was being used for milk. He was being forced to eat and drink, even when he didn't really feel like it, because the adults kept saying he was too thin. In his mind, it all started when that muggle-healer had told him he was too thin and dehydrated; he thought the muggle must've blabbed to his parents, because now everyone was on him to eat and drink more.

The muggle-healer had been good for a couple of things though. Not only had he gotten the muggle-Aurors off Draco's back, but there were also vitamins. Draco had given the vitamins to Severus, who examined them and determined that the multivitamin was nothing more than a collection of standard doses of most of the trace nutrients the body needs each day; the stuff that wasn't sugars, fats, or proteins. The iron supplement was an edible form of element iron, which Severus did not know to be important in blood production, but Draco had tried it and suddenly felt great. After a few days of the muggle-iron, he was no longer sleepy all the time. Sure he still needed naps, but when he was awake he no longer felt sleepy, tired, or run-down. Before he had felt that way all the time, even when he had just woken up, so now he was taking his iron-supplement every day and even asked Severus to pick some more up for him from the muggle store.

And that was pretty much how the next three days passed in a whirl of juggling babies, breast pumping, muggle-vitamins, and muggle-hospitals. But then something truly amazing happened Saturday morning when Draco was visiting Scorpius at the muggle-hospital. The muggle-healers said that they were ready to try taking Scorpius off of the breathing machine and they waited for Draco's visit to do so. They had plenty of muggle-doctors and nurses on stand-by to hook Scorpius right back up to the breathing machine and shove the tube back down his tiny throat should this attempt fail, but Draco wasn't thinking about that; he was thinking about what would happen if the attempt succeeded.

Lucius, Narcissa, and Draco all waited with baited breath for the muggles to remove the tube. Draco was wearing the sterile muggle-gown, because if little Scorpius breathed on his own, they were going to hand him over to Draco. And while they were waiting for the healers and nurses to get everything set up, Dr. Leroy, the one muggle-healer who spoke English, came up to them and said, "Hello Malcolm family. I am Dr. Leroy, Drake remembers me from Wednesday, yes? I normally make my work over in the maternity ward, but I make the best English, yes?"

"Yes," Draco agreed.

"They want Drake to stand near the baby's head and talk to him, yes? Babies always listen to the parents, yes? Scorpius is a good boy and if Father tells him to breathe, the baby will breathe, yes?"

"Will that really work?" Draco asked.

"Sometimes it does; other times the baby is not ready yet. Every baby is different, yes?"

"Yes."

"Good, then you do want to try talking to him for the doctors, yes?"

"Yes."

"Great. The two things they ask is that you not touch him, only speak to him, yes? And if it doesn't work and he doesn't breathe, that you step back, yes?"

"Yes, alright, I can do that: don't touch him and step back if he doesn't breathe. Er, how will I know when it's time to step back if he hasn't breathed?"

"I will stand with you and I will tell you to step back and then pull you back with me, yes?"

"Yes."

"Your baby wakes up and opens his eyes for you, yes?"

"Yes."

One of the muggle-healers said something to Dr. Leroy in French and Dr. Leroy said something back in French, followed by a reply in French from the other muggle-healer.

"Good. The physicians think that when the tubes are out and you speak to him, he might try to look for you. If you sit down on a chair in front of the table where they are working on him and he opens his eyes, he'll be at eye level with you, yes?"

"Yes."

"You will try it then, yes?"

"Yes, sure, I'll sit down in front of him if you want."

"Good, then I'll get the wheelchair," Dr. Leroy said, retrieving a wheelchair from the corner of the room and coming back. "You sit in the chair now, yes?"

Draco was slightly annoyed that he had agreed to sit in a wheelchair without knowing it would be a wheelchair; it reminded him of his brief stint in a wheelchair after being punched in the gut by Weasley, which was the reason behind Scorpius' hospital stay in the first place. But this was for his son and if it worked, he would get to hold his baby without any tubes in the way for the first time. Thus Draco sat and let Dr. Leroy push him into position at the end of the muggle-hospital table next to the muggle-box containing Scorpius that they were going to use to do the procedure.

Draco watched and waited while the muggle-healer took Scorpius out and examined him one last time. Dr. Leroy was by his side the entire time, telling him that the other doctors were saying that the baby looked good and they were ready. The muggles pulled the feeding tube out and then slowly removed the respirator tube. Dr. Leroy urged Drake to talk to the baby as Scorpius' little face distorted while they pulled. It looked like the baby would scream if the tube weren't in the way, making that physically impossible.

"Scorpius, hang in there my little man; they're taking that awful tube out of your throat and then you'll be able to breathe on your own," Draco said and Scorpius' eyes flashed open for a second, before they clenched closed again. "You're gonna be good and breathe for your father, yeah? I'd really like to see you breathing; it'd mean you'll come home with me sooner. Your brother Hyperion is waiting for you at home. And if you breathe and don't have that tube stuck in your throat, you'll be able to cry and make noises."

Then the tube was out and Draco fell silent as he waited to see what would happen. Dr. Leroy said, "Don't stop, keep talking, yes?" at the same time that Scorpius took in a breath and let out a piercing wail, to let everyone know what he thought of that tube in his throat.

"Scorpius, Father's right here baby. I'm so proud of you; the healers are gonna let me hold you any second now," Draco said as the muggles finished removing the device and checked the baby's airways. Then the muggles finally set Scorpius in Draco's arms. He looked down into his son's wailing face and smiled. "I'm gonna be seeing this a lot then, eh? Are you gonna keep screaming at your father? I didn't even do it; it was the muggles. All I did was give birth to you, carry you in my body for nine months, and send you breast milk. You know, it's Daddy Harry you really ought to be crying at, not me."

Scorpius' cries turned into wails as Draco spoke and his little face relaxed. His little grey eyes opened as he finally looked up into his father's face.

"Hi there, that's what Father likes to see. Yes, it's Daddy you should cry at, not Father, isn't it my little man? I bet you're sick of this place and ready to go home with me, aren't you? Just let Hyperion tell you, he's got it good at home: all the adults around to cater to his every whim, change his nappy whenever he soils himself, and me to feed him at all hours of the night. That can be your life too, if you just keep breathing on your own like you're doing now. Did I tell you how proud of you I am?"

While Draco talked, the muggles removed the table and the breathing machine. All but one healer and one nurse cleared away and Lucius and Narcissa were allowed to come forward. The happy grandparents joined in in telling their grandson how good life was at home, but leaving out all mentions of magic or Severus.

After about ten minutes Scorpius began to cry again and the muggle-healer told Draco, through Lucius acting as a translator, to go ahead and breastfeed the baby. Draco felt weird about doing it with muggles watching, but he also wanted to bond with his baby and as always, his breasts were achingly full. Thus he pulled his sweater and muggle shirt off and helped Scorpius latch on. While Scorpius drank, the baby's eyes opened and stayed opened. Draco could swear they made eye contact. Scorpius would blink, but then those light grey eyes would open back up and stare up at Draco's face again.

Draco didn't want to leave Scorpius when he was done breast feeding; he didn't want to go home while Scorpius was stuck with the muggles, but he had to, because he had Hyperion at home and his chest was beginning to ache with the pressure of built up fluid. He comforted himself by saying that Scorpius wouldn't be alone; Father had been with him all night and now Mother was staying with him until tonight.

And so Draco did leave and went back to the villa, where he comforted himself by hugging Hyperion closely.

Scorpius continued to breathe on his own and when Saturday evening came with no further setbacks, the muggles moved the baby over to the SCBU, where Scorpius was assigned a new nurse. This was the last level of care before Scorpius could be released; if nothing went wrong in the next forty-eight hours, the baby would be back home at the villa with his family.

So Saturday was a very happy day, but the following day turned out to be a very stressful, mostly because Severus went back to Hogwarts. Severus had been helping Draco out quite a lot with taking care of Hyperion; maybe too much in fact, since it seemed like the staunch headmaster never put the baby down. Severus was up in the middle of the night helping with nappy changes and he did most of the childcare while Draco was pumping breast milk. Druella help too, mostly covering a shift each afternoon while Draco and Severus slept, but Draco's parents never had time to help at home, because they were always sleeping or at the hospital.

When Severus left, Narcissa was at the hospital and Lucius was asleep, leaving Draco and Druella to manage Hyperion on their own. Draco quickly learned that his grandmother was not the help Severus had been, as he was thrust into the deep-end. He was pumping, as expected for the human-dairy cow he felt like, and then Hyperion started fussing. He had just fed the baby, so he knew it wasn't that and a peak at the nappy quickly identified the problem. He called for his grandmother, but she was off, probably lecturing the doxies on how to properly infest pureblood estates again, and didn't respond. Thus he was left to try to manage a breast pump and a nappy change at the same time.

It took a bit of maneuvering, but eventually Draco figured out how to pick Hyperion up and settle him in one arm on the side of his body, with the strap of the pumping machine on his other side, and the pumps in front. He took his newborn son over to the changing table and held his arms out stiffly, so as not to bump the pumps on his chest, and switched out the wet nappy for a clean one, levitating the dirty one into the nappy hamper for the house elves to deal with. Then he scooped the baby back up with one arm and carried Hyperion back over to the crib to finish his nap.

By the time Severus came by for a quick afternoon visit, Draco was fairly proficient at doing the necessary chores while having the breast pumps connected. Severus didn't stay long, having to get back to his duties, but he did promise to stop by for an hour every afternoon, if possible. And Druella, back from wherever she'd been all morning, did take over after Severus left, so that Draco could get a nap in. That nap was very much appreciated and Draco woke feeling refreshed; so much so that he didn't even mind when he caught his grandmother warning Hyperion never to trust evil muggles. It was the same speech he recognized from his own childhood and tended to follow a fairy tale his grandmother liked to tell about muggles luring wizard children into a candy house and eating them.

Draco took his baby back from his grandmother and reassured Hyperion that muggles weren't in fact going to eat anyone, while he helped Hyperion latch on for a feeding. Once Hyperion was sucking greedily, he summoned the soft baby brush and ran it through the straight blond tuffs of hair. This baby's hair was shorter than Scorpius' hair, but it was thicker, like there were a much greater number of strands. And although the hair was straight, there was a definite cowlick in the back that didn't want to lie flat, not to mention two sections of hair growing in opposite directions that met in the front, to produce a region where the hair seemed to naturally rise up.

"Don't you go thinking about getting your daddy's hair, now; you're supposed to have my blond hair. If you insist on letting it come in all over the place then I'm gonna have to take you to a hair stylist witch and have your hair follicles spelled to all lean in the same direction. Those appointments takes hours, so you're best not going down that road at all," Draco told Hyperion as his baby suckled.

Hyperion's hair never did lie down flat, but short of casting a grooming charm on a newborn, which he wasn't going to do, there was nothing more Draco could do for it. He cast the brush aside and summoned a nail file to smooth down the baby's paper thin nails. Hyperion's breathing deepened and milk begin to leak out the sides of his little mouth, dribbling down his chin and onto Draco's robes. Draco grabbed a burp-cloth and wiped away the excess milk, noticing that once again Hyperion seemed to have fallen asleep while eating.

"Oi, Hyperion, you need to finish eating before you go to sleep," Draco said, stroking the baby's cheek to encourage him to finish. "This has to be the third time today you've fallen asleep on me."

The baby pulled in a few more good sucks and then went back to the sleepy sucking without actually swallowing. Milk once again dribbled down the baby's neck and Draco's chest and robes. Hyperion let go of Draco's nipple, but only to cough at the mouth full of milk he had but didn't want. Draco moved the baby so that he was facing down and patted his back to help the milk clear the little airways, before burping Hyperion properly. Draco wiped them both up and went to lay Hyperion down in the basinet, but Hyperion woke up and started crying.

Draco picked Hyperion back up and cuddled the baby in hopes of Hyperion going back to sleep, but Hyperion just kept fussing and started rooting for a nipple, like he was hungry again. Draco put Hyperion back on, and the baby sucked greedily again for a minute, before falling back to sleep. "No more of this falling asleep on me, little man. You need to sleep in the basinet and not on my nipple," Draco complained.

"Give him here," Druella requested, seeing Draco's problem.

Draco handed the baby over to his grandmother and she laid the baby in the basinet, before moving two of the baby's fingers into his wailing mouth to suck on. "He just wants something to suck on while he sleeps," Druella said.

"Alright. Perhaps he needs a soother," Draco said, remembering the muggle toys Hermione had shown him in the room of requirement. He had told his mother to buy a bunch of them; he'd have to go look for them in the storeroom.

"Those muggle things your mother bought?" Druella asked.

"Yes. Do you know where she put them?"

"In the storeroom somewhere, but they're not for newborns. I was telling her you shouldn't even be giving a muggle thing to a baby at all; you know it might turn them into squibs!"

"Nonsense, Grandmother; they're just harmless toys."

"Let me tell you boy, toys aren't always harmless; Bellatrix nearly choked on a muggle toy my sister-in-law gave her. It was a hard plastic doll and little Bella, she was only two at the time, put the thing in her mouth. The head popped off and got lodged in her windpipe! Luckily my Cygnus was there and got it out and set Bella back to right, but after that we never gave the girls muggle toys again. You got to check the labels on those thing you know; I had your mother check the label on those muggle toys when they arrived and they say they're for babies two weeks old and older."

"Thank you grandmother. I guess I'll wait another week or so before trying them," Draco agreed disappointed. He didn't think he could take another day of Hyperion falling asleep on him at every feeding, but at least he had his grandmother's finger trick.

Monday morning Draco discovered that he could wear his paternity robes while pumping breast milk. Not only were the robes roomy enough to accommodate the pumps and bottles, but they contained a wizard-space charm on them that extended to the chest region and allowed the robes to lie flat over his chest. He had worn these robes during his pregnancy to accommodate the protrusion from his distended belly and now it seemed as though these robes were the perfect robes to wear while pumping. Plus, the cloth panels covering his chest could be spelled away, for easy feedings and changing the collection bottles on the breast pump.

With his paternity robes on and the strap to the breast pump slung over his shoulder, Draco felt free to move around again, even when he was pumping. He could pick Hyperion up and lay the baby on his chest, even with the pump in place. Changing nappies and burping babies was no longer a difficult juggling act, but as easy as if he wasn't pumping at all. Thus with the paternity robes and the finger trick, Monday went much more smoothly than Sunday had gone.

The best part about Monday was in evening when Narcissa came home and told Draco that the muggles were ready to release Scorpius. Draco hugged his mother and wasted no time in changing into muggle clothes, so that he could pick up his son. While Draco was changing, Narcissa went into the storeroom with all the baby things and opened up the second carseat, spelling the straps to the smallest setting.

The muggles had informed Narcissa that they did not release babies from their hospital without an infant carseat, because they wanted to see proof that the parents owned one and that the baby would not be riding home in a muggle-vehicle without one; the baby wouldn't be riding in a muggle vehicle at all, but the muggles didn't know that. Narcissa thanked Merlin that Draco had liked the carseats and had asked for a set. She took the carseat to the nursery and snapped it into the stroller with the other carseat. She found the instruction booklet for the carriage and spelled it to appear as if it had wheels, like a muggle baby carriage. It would still go down stairs like a floating carriage and be just as light to push, but while on flat ground it would appear to have wheels. Tough, they'd still have to make sure not to take in on stairs in front of the muggles.

Draco, freshly changed into muggle-appropriate clothing, came into the nursery and saw Narcissa strapping Hyperion into the carrier on top of the stroller. Draco grabbed a nappy bag, just in case, and made sure it had enough nappies, wipes, blankets, and spare clothes to last for the short trip. Then it occurred to him that he didn't know why they were taking Hyperion with them, when they had always left the baby at home with his grandmother before. There was no point taking this baby out of the protection of the fidelius and into the risky muggle world when he could be left at home just as easily.

"Mother, why are we taking Hyperion?"

"The muggle-healers keep insisting they need to do another check-up on him. They don't want to let Scorpius go without seeing Hyperion again," Narcissa answered.

"Oh. What do they want to do to him?" Draco asked, remembering how the muggles had insisted on sticking his baby with a pin last time.

"Check his weight and fill out paperwork. You have to sign birth certificates for both babies. Hospital policy or some other such nonsense," Narcissa explained.

They were ready and then they were off, Narcissa apparating Draco into the muggle world before going back for the stroller with Hyperion. Narcissa stayed with Hyperion while the muggles measured and weighed him. Dr. Leroy came for Draco, taking Draco into an exam room to check his vitals and make sure that Draco was no longer dehydrated.

"I make a hematocrit test on your blood sample. You are anemic, yes, so it is very important that you make your iron supplements every day, yes?" Dr. Leroy asked.

"Yes, alright. I've been taking them; they make me feel less tired all the time. But what's a heem-mat-o-crit test?" Draco asked.

"A test of anemia. We didn't need to make the paternity test with your blood sample, so I make the hematocrit test instead. It showed that you don't make enough red blood cells, yes. That's why the iron makes you feel better, yes?"

"Yes," Draco agreed.

"You're no longer suffering from dehydration, yes, but you need to make drinking lots of fluids every day so that it doesn't happen again. Yes?"

Draco agreed and then was taken by Dr. Leroy into an office of a muggle who was in charge of paperwork; the second muggle had a heavier accent than Dr. Leroy, so Dr. Leroy did a lot of translating. Draco answered a few questions with phony information and refused to give information about the other father. Then there was an argument regarding which field on the certificate Draco's fake name should go into. Draco wanted to be entered as the father and the muggle in charge of paperwork kept insisting that she had to enter him as the mother.

"Dr. Leroy, you _said_ this would be confidential. How do you possibly think this will be confidential, if it's on the birth certificate?" Draco asked, getting exasperated with the muggles. He couldn't have it written in the muggle public records that a male had given birth to twins, because then the French Ministry for Magic would get involved.

"I will see what I can do, yes?" Dr. Leroy asked before arguing with the other muggle in French.

Finally the muggles settled their dispute and Draco was allowed to sign in the father box and leave the slot for the mother's signature blank, while the spot for the mother's name was listed as, "Mère porteuse", which meant surrogate mother.

The muggles were done with Scorpius and Hyperion and ready to release them before Draco finished with the paperwork. When Draco finished he was given a copy of the documents and they were finally allowed to leave. They strapped Scorpius into the carseat next to his brother and the Malfoy family left hospital for the last time. Narcissa side-along apparated the twins in their stroller, while Lucius took Draco and then the entire Malfoy family was back under the protection of the fidelius charm for the duration of the war.

The first thing Draco did when he got his sons home was to lay down with them, one in each arm, in the spare bed in the nursery. He just lay there holding his babies and talking to them, telling them how much he loved them. Then he fed them and looked down at the two tiny heads suckling. Scorpius' head was a bit smaller and was covered in two inch long straight black stands of hair that lay perfectly flat. Hyperion's head had the thicker, shaggier, but shorter blond hairs. Hyperion kept his now dark blue eyes opened and looking up at him the entire time he fed; Hyperion's eyes were already darker than Narcissa's and were flecked with green, hinting at the color they were meant to be.

Scorpius copied his brother and looked up at Draco was a pair of light grey eyes. Looking back and forth between those two pairs of eyes as he fed his sons, he knew that it was all worth it; the hiding, the lying, the switching sides of the war; he would do it all again for these two perfect beings.

Scorpius let go first first, so Draco burped him and then laid him down in the crib, before he burped Hyperion. Then he put Hyperion down in the same crib as Scorpius, laying him right next to his brother, so that they could reconnect. Scorpius flailed his little hands and poked Hyperion in the face, but Hyperion just opened his mouth and latched onto Scorpius' little fingers and sucked. Draco summoned the camera and took a picture of his two boys, before setting the camera down on a shelf in the nursery, so it would be available for very many photos in the future.

Then Draco remembered Harry and went to his bedroom to get the charmed parchment. His sons were in the nursery waiting for him, so he kept it short, writing only, "I just brought our son home from the hospital. He's healthy, except for the leg, and we're all safe."

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Author's Note: Scorpius is home and breathing on his own! Yay! Draco won't let his babies out of the protection of the fidelius charm anytime soon.

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	11. Chapter 11

In the days that followed Draco's second message to Harry, Hermione looked into Gringotts and was able to verify that the Lestranges had a family vault. But that was where they ran into another road block, because the Lestrange family vault was one of the old vaults, in the deepest and most heavily guarded part of Gringotts. It would be impossible to get in there, because they had no idea how the vault was guarded. Plus, they had no particular reason to believe Bellatrix had hidden a horcrux inside; they didn't even know for certain that Voldemort had given Bellatrix a horcrux to guard in the first place. So they kept that lead in mind for future references, but for now it led nowhere. The same held for the knowledge that the Malfoy Manor would obey Harry over Voldemort, because until they could find the rest of the horcruxes and a way to destroy them, he couldn't bring the fight to Voldemort's doorstep, no matter how much he wanted to.

Then there was the news of the birth of Harry's twins sons to think about. The second baby's stay in the muggle-hospital and the baby's malformed leg were frequently on Harry's mind. It was all linked and it all came back to Ron hitting Draco; Harry couldn't agree with Draco more when it came to the belief that all these problems were caused by Ron. Ron had deserted them in their horcrux hunt and Ron had almost caused his second son to die three times now and had given the baby a permanent birth defect. If Ron were here, he would hex Ron so bad…he didn't know how bad, but it'd be bad.

Harry's desire to curse Ron didn't even diminish a week later when he heard from Draco for a third time and learned that the second baby was out of the muggle-hospital and safe in Draco's arms for the first time. He was extremely relieved to know that his son was safe, breathing on his own, and back under the protection of the fidelius charm. It was like a weight lifting off of his chest, but it was only one weight out of many. He still had so many reasons to be stressed and the fact that he was once again getting the silent treatment from Draco just added to his burden; sure he understood that it'd be safer for Draco and the babies if their contact was limited and Draco had made sure to write him and tell him about the three most important things that had happened, but still there was a constant day to day wondering that ate at him; the not knowing how his family was.

Ron wasn't there to hex, they couldn't get into the Lestrange family vault, it was too soon to storm Malfoy Manor, they didn't have the sword, Draco didn't reply back, his second son still needed treatment for a deformed leg, and it all added up and took its toll on Harry. As the weeks passed, Harry became increasingly desperate to make some progress and find the next horcrux or the sword and the one place that they hadn't looked that Harry was certain would be important to Voldemort and Dumbledore was Godric's Hollow. He was sure they needed to check out the place where Voldemort had met his first defeat in an infant and lost his first corporal body and the place where Dumbledore had grown up.

And so Harry and Hermione went to Godric's Hollow and it was a trap. Nagini had been there disguised as Bathilda Bagshot and had attacked them. Hermione had rescued Harry and gotten them away, but they were still without the sword, Harry's wand was broken, and Harry had been bitten by Nagini. Harry mended his wand, but it wasn't functional, so he shoved it into the drawstring pouch that he wore around his neck.

Hagrid had given the bag to Harry and Harry kept all is most important possessions in it; the snitch Dumbledore had given him, his Protean charmed coin and parchment from Draco, and now his wand. He had considered putting the fragment of Sirius' mirror in the pouch way back when he had cleaned out his school trunk, but the shard was useless and dangerous, so he'd thrown it out.

Harry couldn't sleep that night, so he and Hermione packed up the tent and moved to the Forest of Dean in the wee hours of the morning. They set up camp, casting charms as they went, and had a somber breakfast, but Harry was still mourning the loss of his wand and had to get away from Hermione to think, so he offered to keep watch and sent Hermione back to bed. He sat outside in the freezing cold wearing every sweater he owned and pulled out his coin, wishing he could talk to Draco.

That morning, instead of sending Draco and his sons a message that he loved them, like he usually did, he sent the message, "I broke my wand." That was it; he didn't ask for help obtaining a new one or ask for advice on how to mend the old one. And well, that really wasn't what he wanted anyway, because what he really wanted was his husband to sit by his side with a sympathetic ear and tell him it would be okay. But he wasn't expecting that or any other reply, because Draco never replied back.

Harry sat there, holding Hermione's borrowed wand, and flipping the coin over and over again as the time passed and he thought about his wand. He had been counting on the twin cores to protect him from Voldemort, as his wand had done twice already now. He thought his pouch felt a bit warm and was about to check it, but then he jumped as the coin in his hand burned. He looked down and read the message. "Look at your parchment."

Harry quickly pulled his parchment out of his drawstring bag and read the message. "Where are you? You can borrow mine- it worked for you alright before, didn't it? I have the wand of Lord Malfoy now."

Harry cursed the fact that he didn't have a quill or pot of ink in his drawstring bag; instead he had to go back inside the tent and retrieve the items from Hermione's bag. It took a minute, but then he had them and he was back outside writing, "The Forest of Dean, but how will you get it here? You can't leave the protection of the fidelius for this."

"Father volunteered to deliver it for me. He said he's been meaning to pass the Sword of Gryffindor along to you anyway; he just never knew where you were."

"Your father is with you and the babies!? Why? That's not safe! And how and why does he have the sword?" Harry's anxiety skyrocketed as he realized that Lucius Malfoy, a known Death Eater, was with his family and he wasn't. He had no way to protect them.

"Relax, Father's been here for months and hasn't hurt us. I didn't tell you because I knew you'd freak out, but he's on my side and helped save the second baby's life. I'm really not sure how you didn't figure out. I had to have had more help than just my mother and elderly grandmother taking care of me. Father took the second baby to the muggles, Mother finished up the delivery, and Grandmother tended to the first baby. Father loves us and wanted to apologize to you months ago, but I advised against it, because your occlumency is shite. Anyway, he stole the sword from my aunt Bellatrix before he left the Manor and replaced it with a forgery, because he thought it was important. She still thinks she has the real one, but the real one has been here for ages. I didn't even know you were looking for it."

Harry had to read through Draco's note multiple times before the words began to sink in and form sentences. The first sentence was all he managed to process during his first read through: Lucius had been with Draco and the babies for months. For whatever reason, Draco and Narcissa had felt confident enough of Lucius' loyalty to the Malfoy family, even when the family's interests were is opposing orientation to the interests of Voldemort, to let Lucius into their protected safe house. Draco and Narcissa were totally vulnerable to Lucius! How did they plan on defending themselves if Lucius had turned on them? What if Lucius was just buying time until the opportune moment to turn on them? What if this was Lucius' trap and now Draco would tell Lucius where Harry and Hermione were and then they'd be captured, the war would be over, and he didn't even know what would happen to Draco and the babies.

The second time Harry read through the letter he got through the part about Lucius' role in saving the second baby's life. Suddenly the events Draco told him about clicked and it became obvious that Draco had had another able bodied adult with him. He seethed with anger at the idea that Lucius had been charged with saving his son's life. But then on the third run through, it occurred to him that Lucius _had_ saved his sons life. Lucius hadn't turn the baby over to Voldemort, but brought the baby back to Draco. Lucius had taken Harry's son to the muggles and begged them for help. Lucius the pureblood muggle hater had in the heat of the moment, when it was a matter of life and death, chosen to save the baby by going to the muggles.

Harry began to think that Lucius must absolutely put his family above all else in the world for Lucius to have done that; no other explanation made sense. Lucius had abandoned Voldemort; Harry had seen Voldemort's fury himself. Lucius hadn't used the baby to lure Harry out of hiding to his death; Harry would've walked right into a trap if it meant the chance to save the baby. Lucius had saved the baby in the first place, when all others would've failed and when there was another baby available for use as a potential weapon against Harry.

Harry read the message one more time and finally the last part sunk in. Lucius had done all that for Draco and the babies and now Lucius was offering up the Sword of Gryffindor to Harry. It was a gesture to show support, prove where his loyalties lie, or make amends for past crimes; it didn't really matter which, just that Lucius wanted to apologize to him _months_ ago? Wow, he had never for a moment thought that would happen and now that is was happening, he wasn't really sure what to think about it.

The one thought Harry did grasp onto was that the Sword of Gryffindor was now within his reach. He had been looking for the Sword, trying to figure out where Dumbledore might leave it for him, for _months_ now. He had risked his life, almost been eaten by a giant snake, and broken his wand, looking for the sword, which was now being handed to him. He couldn't just pass this up; he had to see where this went, if there was even a chance that Lucius had the real sword then he had to see what it would take to get it from Lucius, even if it meant letting the man stay with his family in hiding…well maybe not if it meant that, because he would never agree to that and he also didn't have a choice in the matter. The only thing he had a choice on was how he reacted.

Next Harry began to wonder about how Lucius had gotten the sword. Draco's letter said that Lucius stole it from Bellatrix Lestrange. Well Bellatrix couldn't've had the sword until sometime after Bill and Fleur's wedding on Harry's birthday, when the Minster for Magic had…had not in fact had the sword with him that day. Lucius could've already had the sword even then, he supposed.

Could Bellatrix have gotten the sword in the summer, before Snape was announced as headmaster, back when Harry still thought Professor McGonagall was in charge? Could she have had it when Lucius got out of Azkaban? Could Lucius have made, or had someone else make, a forgery so quickly? Harry thought about it, and it seemed that the answer to all of those questions was yes, because he simply didn't know where and when the sword had been.

Finally Harry thought about whether or not Lucius would take the sword. Draco wouldn't have told Lucius all of the details of the situation _before_ Lucius left Voldemort. He had thought that Draco wouldn't have let Lucius into their safe house while Voldemort was still alive and he had been wrong there, granted, but he was not wrong about this now. Draco was pregnant at the time and absolutely wouldn't have put their unborn babies into harm's way and Draco wouldn't have risked telling his father more than the absolute minimum as long as Lucius was still with Voldemort, when Lucius still had the opportunity to steal the sword from Bellatrix.

So maybe Lucius knew that the Malfoys were switching sides, but nothing more, and certainly nothing about Harry. Given that was the case, would there be any reason for Lucius to take the sword with him? To put his life at risk to get the sword? Harry pondered that question for a minute and then looked back at Draco's message on the parchment, before deciding the answer was yes. If Lucius had known the sword was of value when it came to the war, and surely he did if Bellatrix knew, then Lucius was just the type of sneaky snake to steal the most valuable piece he could find before switching sides. What better way to come out on top than to turn up with the sword and present it to whichever side he decided he ultimately wanted to be on? If Lucius chose to go back to Voldemort, he could present the sword to his Lord and claim he rescued it from Harry. If Lucius ended up siding with his son, as now seemed to be the case, he could offer up the sword as payment for his past crimes.

Yes, Lucius would sneak off with the sword and he just might actually be on Harry's side now. And Harry had already given his location up to Draco, who was living with Lucius and probably had Lucius hovering over his shoulder. The only choice now was whether to stay and see how this played out, or to run into the tent, grab Hermione, and get out of the Forest of Dean before Lucius could get here. He didn't feel like moving again and he really wanted that sword and that was what motivated him as he sat back down, dipped his quill in the ink, and wrote his reply to Draco.

"It could be a trap. How do I know he won't capture me and turn me over to Voldemort?"

"It's not a trap; I promise you my father will not harm you. You don't have to meet him and reveal your position for the exchange. Father will leave the sword and my wand somewhere and send his patronus out, before he disapparates. Be on the lookout for his doe patronus and follow it back to where the items are. Father will be gone before you even get there and the form of his patronus will prove where his loyalties lie; you can't lie with a patronus."

"A doe?" Harry wrote back as he thought about it. He couldn't imagine Lucius with a doe patronus; something just didn't fit with that one.

"It changed when he fell in love with his grandsons. He realized how fully our family's welfare was linked to your survival. Besides, you're a Malfoy now, so the Malfoy name will benefit from your defeat of the Dark Lord; that bit carried a lot of weight with him and I'm glad you agreed to change your name, because it made turning him over to our side so much easier."

"Speaking of names, what did you name our sons? You never told me."

"I did so; Hyperion and Scorpius."

"Yes, but which is which?"

"Hyperion is the first born and Scorpius the second. Give father time to get there; he's never been before, but he says he can be there by tonight. Keep an eye out for the doe."

"I will. I love you and I miss you. Tell our boys I love them?"

"I tell them they should save their crying and fussing for you."

"Why?" Harry wrote back. He waited, but an answer never came. He didn't have anything else to do, so he waited some more. Then he kept right on waiting as he watched the forest for any signs of life.

Harry waited until Hermione woke up. He told her everything and she asked if he was mental and said how very dangerous this was and then asked if Draco was mental and said how very dangerous it was of Draco to let Lucius in. Harry agreed with her, but he didn't have any other viable options and they needed the sword and he wanted the wand. In the end they decided to risk it and stay, but to pack up everything so that they would be able to leave the moment it was over, just in case.

Harry and Hermione were waiting when they saw the doe. Harry ran after the doe and Hermione followed in his invisibility cloak as back up. Harry found Draco's wand by the pond and then saw the sword inside the pond. He went in the pond to get the sword and the locket nearly drowned him, but someone saved him, pulled him up, and cut the horcrux off of him. That someone also retrieved the sword and that someone was not Hermione. Hermione was alternating between cursing that someone for leaving and thanking him for coming back and saving Harry.

It took Harry several moments to catch his breath and recover before he realized that it was Ron who had saved him. Ron then went on to reveal that he had used Dumbledore's deluminator to find them and that he had been trying to find them again since the day he left. Then it occurred to Harry that they had the sword and the locket and it was time to destroy a horcrux; he had the inexplicable feeling that Ron should do it, so he made Ron do it. It took a while, but then it was done, the horcrux was destroyed, and the three of them went back to their packed campsite to dry off and for Ron and Harry to change out of their wet clothes.

Harry explained to Ron how it was that he and Hermione had come to be running after a doe patronus in the middle of the forest, because Lucius Malfoy was now on their side and had left them the sword and Draco's wand. And while he was at it, he hit Ron with a mucus adnauseam curse, for Scorpius; the first spell he cast with Draco's borrowed wand, which he thought was rather fitting.

"Ow, what wa' blat for?" Ron asked, pulling long, thick strings of mucus from his nose.

"Draco had the babies. That was for my son, who wasn't breathing, because you punched Draco while he was pregnant with him."

"Is 'e dead?" Ron asked, giving up on the mucus for a moment and letting it hang heavily from his nose as he looked to Harry.

"No, Lucius Malfoy saved him by taking him to muggles for help. The muggle hospital had him on some sort of breathing machine _for a week_, outside the fidelius charm, where Death Eaters could get to him at any moment, except for the fact that Lucius was guarding him the entire time."

"That' grea'! I ne'er bleally figured ol' Lucius for the sort, but that's bleally blilliant tha' he did all tha'. You know Harry, sometimes these things just happen. I remember my mum telling me tha' Charlie wasn't breathing when he was born and the healers had to get him going."

Harry hit Ron with Ginny's famous bat-bogey hex, which Ginny had taught him when he stayed with the Weasley's over the summer. "No, this didn't _just happen_! You happened. This is the baby you punched. He came out tiny and not breathing and he even has a deformed leg, because of you."

The bat-bogeys on top of the mucus were just too much phlegm blocking Ron's air passages for him to be able to breathe properly, let alone talk. So instead of replying to Harry, he coughed, spat mucus and bat-bogeys to the ground, and pulled slime from his nose. He choked on a particularly bad bogey and began to think Harry had chosen these curses for a reason, to show him what it felt like to not be able to breathe.

Hermione moved to help Ron, seeing that he was choking, but Harry stopped her, because he wanted Ron to suffer through it. And Ron's choking only lasted a matter of seconds before Ron coughed up the bogey and pulled out another glob of mucus.

"I'b," cough, splutter, "sorry," Ron said, before going into another coughing fit.

That apology was strangely more satisfying for Harry than the others had been. "See to it that it doesn't happen again. And see to it that you never even _touch_ my husband or my children again. The muggles don't think the baby will be able to _walk_ because of you. Now I have one more reason why I need to bring this war to an end quickly, and that is because the baby needs treatment at St. Mungo's to repair his leg. That's if they can repair it, because at this point, we have no way of knowing if it's repairable," Harry ranted. He suddenly realized that ranting made him feel very good.

Ron continued to cough and blow mucus and bogeys out his nose and Harry ranted some more, but then Hermione said, "Boys, um, this is all very interesting, but I'm getting very cold and we still haven't moved camp sites, so I can't set up the tent."

Harry's thoughts turned to the fact that they had agreed to move again, because they didn't want Lucius to know where they were any longer than necessary. Harry stopped ranting and helped Hermione take down the wards. Then Ron paused in his expulsion of bodily fluids and the three of them apparated away, only to reestablish the wards and set the tent back up. They made Ron keep the first watch, but then Ron had to stay up anyway, because of his phlegm predicament, so he might as well keep the first watch while he was at it.

Harry didn't fully forgive Ron for hurting the baby and Hermione was still mad at Ron for running away, but they did let him back into the fold. There was something so gratifying about having the sword, the real sword as evidenced by the fact that it destroyed the horcrux, and about having destroyed another horcrux. They were finally moving forward. They were getting closer to their ultimate goal; they just had to figure out where the last two horcruxes were. Malfoy Manor and the Lestrange family vault were their best two leads.

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Author's Note: Please review!


	12. Chapter 12

In the few weeks between the time Scorpius came home from the hospital and Christmas, Draco and the Malfoy family got into a routine of baby care. Severus came by just after lunch to spend an hour with the babies and Druella covered the rest of the afternoon. Narcissa helped out all morning and Lucius was up with Draco during the night. Draco always needed help, because he was juggling two babies.

Draco was on baby duty pretty much twenty-four hours a day and his breaks were usually spent sleeping or bathing, but the rest of the family had several hours of free time each day. Lucius used his time to work on the gifts he was making for his family with woodworking spells; a coat rack and two cradles. Narcissa spent her time making ornaments for the tree; she specialized in intricate designs made out of crystal beads. And Druella spent her free time the way she always spent it: telling stories about how things were back in her day and spouting racist tripe.

The family was looking forward to the holidays and was delighted to have Severus over for a few days. They didn't have a lot of presents to go around that year, but there was a lot of love and cheerfulness. Druella even got the old turn-style working and playing traditional pureblood winter solstice tunes. And Narcissa had surprised everyone by having a present for each of them hidden away in the storeroom.

The one gift Draco gave his sons for Christmas that year was the muggle soothers. He wrapped a box up of blue and white soothers for Hyperion and a box full of Green and yellow soothers for Scorpius. They had a storeroom full of unopened things he could've given the babies, but they were too little to open presents or to be excited about them and everything they were old enough to use, was already out in the nursery. Except for the soothers, which they were supposed to be two weeks old to use and they were only just over three weeks old on Christmas day.

Scorpius and Hyperion seemed to really take to their gifts. Hyperion was quite excited about his and took to waving one in each hand and saying, "Uh!" Scorpius was a bit less active and still slept most of the day away, but now he did that with a soother in his mouth and was easier to put down in the first place. Not long after bringing Scorpius home from the muggle-hospital, Draco had discovered that Scorpius was even worse than Hyperion when it came to falling asleep on the teat and wanting to suck on something when he was asleep.

Quite often the soothers had the problem of not staying in the baby's mouth, because little baby hands would grab them and pull them out and not be able to find the hole to shove the soother back in. Then the baby would grow frustrated and cry and Draco would have to guide the hand with the soother back to the mouth. And while doing this for what must've been the hundredth time that Christmas, Draco began to think that he could improve the muggle toy with a bit of magic; a homing charm would help the hand get the soother back in. There might even be a market for them after the war, what with the tendency being to have more babies after a war.

Two days after Christmas the family, including Severus, was sitting around the breakfast table enjoying the scones Severus had brought from the Hogwarts house elves, when Draco's coin burned in his pocket. He had taken to once again carrying the coin in the pocket of his robes and it usually just said, "I love you." The simple message always made Draco smile and helped him get through his endless days filled with repetitive baby care. But today when he took his coin out it read, "I broke my wand."

Draco repeated the message to the table and then said, "He really ought to have a wand to defend himself. I'll give him mine; I've got the other one."

"If you can find out where Harry is, I will take it to him. I have the Sword of Gryffindor I have been trying to get to him," Severus said.

"Alright, let me get my charmed parchment. We can meet in the study and go over the details," Draco replied, before getting up from the table and going upstairs.

Draco was just coming downstairs on his way to the study with his parchment when his father approached him, falling in line beside Draco as they walked. "I should still like to apologize to Harry. If we are communicating with him now, this might be just the time to do it. And the Sword and the wand cannot be known to come from Severus. It is crucial that Severus _not_ be compromised, but my position is already forfeit. I think it would be best if you were to tell Harry that I'm bringing the sword and the wand."

They were entering the study now where Severus stood near a desk upon which he had set out an opened bottle of ink and a quill. Severus heard the end of Lucius' statement and agreed. The three of them discussed their plan and then Draco wrote to Harry. And because Harry had not noticed the parchment right away the first time, Draco sent a message through the coin too.

Harry was skeptical and took far too long to reply. At one point Harry took so long that Draco had been convinced that something had happened to poor defenseless wandless Harry. But then Harry had replied and Draco had slowly talked Harry into it. Severus left the villa sooner than he had planned, but he had a sword and a wand to deliver, so he interrupted his last Christmas holiday and went. It went off with the slight hitch of Harry almost being drowned by the horcrux around his neck, but the Weasley boy was there and saved Harry, so Severus left without being found out and Harry was made to think it was Lucius.

Severus went back to Hogwarts to check on the school and the children, but mostly to check in with the Death Eaters and keep watch on said Death Eaters, because he couldn't have the Carrow siblings harming his students. The Dark Lord seemed utterly unaware that a piece of his soul had been destroyed, fixating instead on Harry's escape from Nagini, and all was well with the school. And it was still the winter holidays with most of the students gone, so he went back to the villa and spent a few more days with the Malfoys.

In the days following sending his wand to Harry, Draco found himself trying to bond with his new wand; the wand of Armand Malfoy, complete with walking stick and snake ornament, which he had inherited along with the title Lord Malfoy upon his father's incarceration last year. The wand and walking stick always went with the title, along with the responsibilities as head of the Malfoy family. He had thought about giving it all back to his father when his father was released, but inheriting was never done in reverse and they hadn't bothered to work out how to go about arranging it; it would take a lawyer for certain.

Draco had a bond with his old wand, the one he lent to Harry, and the Malfoy wand just hadn't worked as well for him before, probably because his father was still alive. Thus he had kept the Malfoy wand, but continued to use his old one. When his father got out of Azkaban and Draco wasn't there to hand the wand over, Lucius searched Malfoy Manor and come up with his old wand, the one he had had before Abraxas' death, before Lucius inherited the title Lord Malfoy and the Malfoy wand. And when Lucius finally did rejoin the family, he did not mention the wand or the title and Draco didn't even think of it. But now Draco was thinking of it, because he needed the Malfoy wand to work for him.

There were lots of things Draco used his wand for every day, such as summoning soothers, levitating soiled nappies, and various baby paraphernalia. His old wand had felt like an extension of his hand and without the connection, this new wand was like trying to operate a prosthesis. It worked, but it was slow, inaccurate, and imprecise; he desperately needed to bond with it to get it functioning properly.

Draco tried using the Malfoy wand for several days, hoping to break it in through use, but when that didn't work, he began to think about why this wand wasn't responding to him. The answer to that was obvious: its previous owner, his father, was still alive. The wand was still recognizing his father as its rightful owner and there was only one solution he could think of to solve that problem. And no, it wasn't to off his father.

And so Draco challenged his father to a duel, gave Lucius the Malfoy wand to use and took Lucius' old wand for himself. They went out to the patio in front of the snow-covered trellises of the dormant grape vines and cast warming charms to extend the area available for the duel. And the two Malfoy men dueled.

In all honesty Lucius was not really trying to win. He knew his son was the rightful possessor of the Malfoy wand and that his son needed it. He was concerned for Draco's health after giving birth not quite a month before and as such he absolutely refused to cast any dangerous hexes or curses. He considered his son inexperienced and without the option to seek help at St. Mungo's, he would only cast spells he knew the counter to, if he cast any at all.

Draco was determined to win. He knew he needed this wand to recognize him as its true owner and that his father was skilled and could handle himself. He did decide to limit himself to non-fatal spells that he knew the counter to, but other than that, he was going all out. Physically he felt fine. His second cervix had long since vanished and he no longer felt any pain in his abdomen; in fact his stomach was completely flat again and showed no signs that he had ever been pregnant. The only sign there was of that was his pectorals that were ever swollen with milk. But he had just fed the babies and his breasts really weren't that big, not even A cups, so that shouldn't get in the way of his duel.

Draco began with a serpensortia and the snake lunged for his father, before Lucius vanished it. Then Draco went with the jelly-legs curse, which Lucius blocked. He tried an expelliarmus, which Lucius dodged. By this time Draco had noticed that his father wasn't casting any offensive spells, only defensive ones and clearly wasn't trying. That made Draco mad, so he flung a levi corpus at his father, which took Lucius by surprise because of the speed of the attack and promptly turned the elder Malfoy upside down, leaving him hanging in midair by the ankle. Draco walked up to his father, recast expelliarmus again, and grabbed the Malfoy wand as it flew out of Lucius' hand.

"Well done," Lucius said with his robes scrunched up under his elbows, revealing the trousers and undershirt he wore underneath.

"Thank you father," Draco said, before using the Malfoy wand to cast the counter curse and letting his father down.

Once Lucius was back on his feet, Draco handed over Lucius' old wand, the one Lucius had been using since getting out of Azkaban, and set about testing the Malfoy wand. Draco worried for a moment that the duel wouldn't do the trick, because his father hadn't really been trying, but that worry was quickly alleviated when the Malfoy wand obeyed his every command and quickly began to feel like an extension of his wand arm. It wasn't quite the same as his old wand, because although it worked beautifully, but the magic hummed at a different frequency and with a richer tone; somehow stronger from the thousand years of use.

* * *

Author's Note: Have you ever noticed how all of the wands disappear during the war? Even if Ollivander is gone, where did his shop full of wands go? If Voldemort took them, then why didn't he give Lucius a wand? It really doesn't make sense that Lucius wouldn't have a spare wand, given that Abraxas has only recently died and Lucius is using a wand inherited from his father. If it were me, I would've hidden my old wand away for a rainy day, so that is what I had Lucius do here. Then when Draco wasn't there to return the Malfoy wand, Lucius pulled out his old wand. This way Draco is free to give his wand away to Harry, the way it is in the books.

Next chapter Bellatrix will go looking for the Malfoys. She's staying at the Manor guesthouse, so how much damage might she do?


	13. Chapter 13

It was February and Lucius was reading in the study at the villa. Narcissa and Druella were having tea in the drawing room, while Draco and the twins were all down for their afternoon nap. The twins were two months old and didn't sleep for long periods of time, so they would wake up first and when they woke, Druella and Narcissa would tend to them to let Draco have his rest. The twins were bigger now; Scorpius had almost doubled his weight and Hyperion had gain two pounds. Scorpius' eyes were still grey, but Hyperion's had turned a vibrant green.

It was then that Nilbert the house elf appeared before Lucius in the study.

"Master Lucius Malfoy, sir," Nilbert said.

"What are you doing here Nilbert? Aren't you supposed to be tending to your duties?" Lucius asked as he tried to remember what exactly this elf's duties were this time of year. This was one of the laboring elves, he was sure, but the vineyard and garden were frozen. The two dairy cows still needed tending to and there was the wine to check on and cheese to make.

"Bellatrix Lestrange, mam, is at the guesthouse right now, sir," Nilbert said.

"Yes, I let her and the Dark Lord stay at the Manor guesthouse Nilbert."

"No sir, Bellatrix Lestrange, mam, is at the villa guesthouse, here in France, sir. She is looking for Master Lucius Malfoy, sir."

"Why?"

"Bellatrix Lestrange, mam, said that the Dark Lord, sir, told her to find Master Lucius Malfoy, sir, and the rest of the Malfoy family, sir and mam. She already questioned the Manor house elves and searched Malfoy Manor for clues this morning, sir, before coming here. She is in a rage, sir, because the villa is missing, sir. She is tearing the guesthouse up sir!"

"Let her. Tell the elves they are to stay away from her and if she calls for service, send Wispy only." Wispy was a very old mostly useless house elf that Lucius wouldn't mind if Bellatrix murdered in a fit of rage.

Nilbert agreed and left and Lucius went to the drawing room to inform Druella and Narcissa of this turn of events. There was nothing to do for it but wait and hope that Bellatrix wore herself out without doing too much damage to Malfoy property.

Later, when Draco woke up, Lucius informed Draco too of Bellatrix's rampage. "Draco, did you leave anything behind at the Manor that could tell Bellatrix where we are?" Lucius asked.

"No, I don't think so. From what you said I think she's figured out where we are from the fact that the villa is missing," Draco replied.

"Yes, I imagine that's the case. But did you leave anything of value she might destroy? Something I ought to have the elves go back for and apparate here to keep safe?"

"No. The only thing I left is the portrait of Merlin in the loo and Merlin knows it can't be moved," Draco answered. There was a permanent sticking charm on that portrait of Merlin, so it was impossible to take it with him.

"The house elves will have to disillusion it, so that she doesn't burn him," Lucius replied, before calling a house elf with instructions to do just that.

With that settled, there was nothing to do for it but wait and go on with their lives. Scorpius and Hyperion needed constant care and got bigger every day and the Malfoy family once again became engulfed in their day to day grind. Lucius kept tabs on Bellatrix and was disheartened to learn in mid-February of Wispy's death at Bellatrix's hands. After that the elves reported an incident in which Bellatrix went out to the farmland on the Manor grounds and began destroying the place, convinced the Malfoy family was living off of the produce being transported to them by the elves. They weren't of course, because they were afraid of the food being tampered with or tracked, but Bellatrix didn't know that; at least none of the elves died in the altercation, even if a few were injured. It wasn't until the second old house elf, Cinders, died at Bellatrix's hands in late February that Lucius decided dealing with his sister-in-law couldn't be put off any longer. At least Bellatrix hadn't discovered Merlin in the loo.

"Maise!" Lucius called, summoning the new oldest Malfoy house elf to him. The old ones were the least valuable, but Lucius was running out of old elves. Maise wasn't even that old, barely past middle-aged as far as elves were concerned.

"Yes Master Lucius Malfoy, sir," Maise replied, after apparating into the room.

"Maise, I want you to lead Bella to the mirror in the bathroom in the guesthouse at Malfoy Manor. Only do so when the Dark Lord is away and likely to remain away all day. When she is in there alone, come tell me," Lucius instructed.

Lucius went about his day, helping his son care for his two precious grandchildren. Scorpius and Hyperion were young yet, but it was never too soon to start ingraining the proper set of principles into one's heirs. Lucius was reading some of the works of the saint Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli to his family. Machiavelli was a muggle, but an ingenious one who the Malfoys had befriended in his day. That was back long before the International Statute of Secrecy was established, back when the Malfoy family had still consorted with muggles; not that the Malfoy family would ever admit such an association, but they did still read Machiavelli to their children.

That is when Maise popped into the room and announced, "Master Lucius Malfoy, sir, Bellatrix Lestrange, mam, is in the bathroom and waiting, sir."

"You may go Maise," Lucius said, dismissing the elf. "Alright, keep the boys silent. Cast a silencing charm on this room just to be safe."

"Alright. I now the story by heart, so if you need back up, come get me," Narcissa said. She and Lucius had been discussing back up plans for what to tell her sister if worst came to worst and it became necessary to actually contact Bellatrix.

Lucius nodded and then excused himself to the loo. The spell to link the two mirrors was complex and he hadn't needed to cast it in years, but he was a skilled wizard and it wasn't long before he got it. Bellatrix appeared dourly in the mirror.

"See here little old elf! Explain to me right this minute why I am to wait in the loo," Bellatrix shrieked indignantly.

"Because I am under the impression that you are looking for me dear Bella. Did you really kill two of my elves?" Lucius asked sternly.

"Come now Lucius! I had to; they wouldn't tell me where you and Cissy are."

"And just why do you need to know?"

"The Dark Lord asked me to find you and your family. I know you are in hiding at your villa in France; it's disappeared!"

"It's true, we are at the villa, but I am not the secret keeper, so I cannot let you in to speak with me."

"Then who is?"

"Cissy and she's in far too delicate condition right now to trouble her with your petty problems.

"Petty problems? It's been almost a year since Cissy vanish and there has been no word from you months!"

"There is a reason for that.

"Ah yes, there is always a reason for a Malfoy to turn traitor, isn't there?"

"You are mistaken Bella, I am ever loyal to our Lord. Circumstances have prevented me from serving him, but I left him my house. I hope he has made proper use of it."

"Come now Lucius; we are at war here! The fate of the wizarding world lies upon us. What could be more important than that?"

"My son is dying," Lucius answered solemnly.

"That is what Severus said _last_ year. Surely the boy can't _still_ be dying, can he? If he was going to, he would've done so by now!"

"How cruel of you to look so callously on your own flesh and blood."

"Alright, I'm all ears Lucius; just what is dear nearly dead Draco dying of now?"

"The same dark curse that nearly killed him last spring. The Potter brat _cursed_ him with it. Cissy and I mend the wounds frequently, but they pop back open all the more insistently. We had hoped he would get better with time, but he only grows worse every month. The progress is very slow, but I fear I won't have very many months left at all to tend to my ailing son before he slips from my grasp."  
"I'm sure that must be awful for you," Bellatrix said, not sounding all that concerned at all, "but why can't Cissy tend to the boy and you return to serve our Lord. Or is he no longer your Lord too?"

"He will always be my Lord! But Cissy is incapable of caring for anyone right now."

"How's that? She's always been better with a healing charm than you Lucius."

"That she is, but she's pregnant," Lucius revealed and that news finally gave Bellatrix pause. He quite enjoyed the speechless expression on her face. "With my heir incurable and slowly dying, Cissy and I had no choice but to create another. She's growing a bit old for it, but I was able to brew up a fertility potion that did the trick. Only trouble is that with her age, the stress of the war, and the horror of losing our son, it's turning out to be a very difficult pregnancy indeed. Eventually she'll have the baby and Draco will…pass on…and I will return to my Lord and serve him. I can only hope that he can still find a use for me when the time comes. Do pass along to him my regrets."

Before Bellatrix could stop flapping her mouth about like a fish and formulate a response to that bit of surprising news, Lucius canceled the charm on the mirror, breaking the connection. He smiled to himself as he imagined his sister-in-law raging at the mirror in his absence. He was fairly certain he would need to repair that mirror upon his return the Wiltshire; maybe even replace it.

Lucius went back to his family and when he entered the room, little Scorpius called out, "Hi, hi, hi, hi!" and it was almost as if the baby was saying it to his grandfather. But Lucius knew that the twins were always babbling and more often than not, it was the word hi. Still, Lucius did like to dote on his grandsons. "Hi Scorpius. Did you miss your Grandfather?" he asked, taking the baby from Narcissa, who was holding him.

"How did it go dear?" Narcissa asked.

"As well as can be expected, Cissy. Only time will tell," Lucius replied.

"Severus will be here in a few hours; maybe he will have good news for you," Draco suggested hopefully.

And so the Malfoy family waited for Severus Snape. Three hours later Severus arrived and Lucius relayed the news of his conversation with Bellatrix, but it was too soon for Severus to have news. In fact, it wasn't until almost a week later when Severus was called to report before the Dark Lord that he was able to come back with news of Bellatrix and the search for the Malfoy family.

"The Dark Lord claims to be a merciful Lord; he has granted you more time Lucius to deal with your family situation. He proclaimed that you have until Narcissa's baby is born to return to him. Once the baby is born, Narcissa will be expected to look after both it and Draco, if he is still alive by then, leaving you free to serve our Lord. Of course he doesn't know when Narcissa is due to deliver, so practically that means another eight months before the search for the Malfoys will resume," Severus said.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief at the good news and the Malfoy family celebrated. Hopefully the war would be long over in another eight months, but one never did know with these things. At least they were being granted another eight month reprieve before Bellatrix destroyed anymore Malfoy property. Their lives were important, of course, but they were relying on the Manor and the farmland surrounding the Manor to survive intact, not to mention the elves; elves were bloody expensive to replace.

* * *

Author's Note: Does anyone else find the idea of Merlin being hung in the loo hilarious?

Were you surprised by the Narcissa pregnancy ruse Lucius told? It seemed the obvious choice to go with, because they really would need a new heir if Draco really were dying.

Please Review!


	14. Chapter 14

Harry said the name. He was just so happy to have heard Fred and George's radio broadcast that he hadn't been thinking about it, he just did. He said Voldemort's name out loud and the name was taboo, leading the snatchers right to them. Hermione's quick thinking with the stinging jinx bought them time, but their wands were taken and he, Ron, and Hermione were all taken to Malfoy Manor. Only the Malfoys weren't there and Harry was technically a Malfoy.

Bellatrix greeted the Snatchers at the gate and let them in. Rodolphus Lestrange and Mr. Goyle were inside. There was some argument over whether or not Harry was really Harry, but then Bellatrix and the others caught sight of Hermione and Ron and had them pegged. There was arguing over who would get the honor of summoning Voldemort, but then Bellatrix saw the Sword of Gryffindor in the possession of the snatchers and put a halt to summoning Voldemort.

Bellatrix set to torturing Hermione while the other prisoners were imprisoned in the cellar. With the sounds of Hermione screaming overhead and Ron shouting Hermione's name, Luna freed them from the ropes with a nail. Harry reached into his drawstring pouch he kept around his neck and pulled out Dumbledore's useless snitch and his broken wand, before finding his Protean charmed galleon and parchment. He went to activate the coin and send a message to Draco, but he didn't have a wand. He turned to the parchment and said, "A quill: I _need_ a quill or something to write with. Anything."

But all Luna had was the nail; no quill or pencil, or writing implement of any kind. Harry tried to activate the coin with wandless magic, but had no luck. Hermione screamed up above their heads and an idea occurred to Harry in his desperation. He shoved his precious personal items back into his drawstring pouch.

"I'm a Malfoy; I've rights to this house. The house elves have to obey me," Harry said, mostly to himself as he tried to figure out what to do.

"Call one of them," Luna suggested calmly.

Harry looked at Luna gratefully for the suggestion. He had been so worried about her after the debacle at her father's house when he found out that she had been kidnapped. But she was alive and right here with him and he was going to take her back to Xenophilus. He was just about to take her advice when they heard Hermione claim the sword was a fake and Rodolphus say to get the goblin. Harry turned first to the goblin and begged him to lie and claim the sword was a forgery.

Once the goblin was taken upstairs, Harry called out, "Malfoy house elves; I require your assistance."

Since Harry had not called for one of them, but all of them, a dozen or so house elves popped into the cellar. There was some quick discussion with the house elves, but Harry soon asked if the elves could apparate them away. The elves could and Harry instructed one of them to take Mr. Ollivander, Luna, and Dean somewhere and Ron supplied the where of Shell Cottage. The one elf left, but plenty remained with Harry when the Death Eaters upstairs heard the crack of disapparation and sent Wormtail down to investigate.

Then Harry ordered another house elf to cause a distraction in the drawing room and a third to disapparate them all away to Shell Cottage once they had Hermione, the sword, and their wands.

Wormtail came down and was killed by his own prosthetic hand. Ron now had Wormtail's wand and they went up the stairs to the drawing room. One of the elves unscrewed the chandelier, creating the distraction and then disapparated Ron and Hermione away. Mr. Goyle in his fervor to replace his own wand, which Voldemort had destroyed, had collected two of the wands from the snatchers, as well as Bellatrix's wand when it flew out of her hand. Harry wrestled all three wands away from him. Then Harry went to Griphook, who was still clutching the Sword of Gryffindor, and yet another house elf disapparated them away, but not before Bellatrix could throw her knife into the chest of said house elf.

Harry arrived at Bill and Fleur's cottage by the sea. One of the house elves died, but the other two went back to Malfoy Manor; Harry buried the small body in a grave in the sand he dug himself. Hermione, Ron, Luna, Dean, and Griphook were all safe, if shaken up with their various injuries, but they had the sword, and they had wands. Ron had Wormtail's wand, while Harry had gotten Draco's, Hermione's, and Bellatrix's wand off of Mr. Goyle.

They stayed at the cottage, learning news of the outside world and recuperating. Something Bellatrix had said to Hermione had her convinced that there was a horcrux inside the Lestrange family vault. They had looked into this lead before, when Draco had first mentioned it, but the vault was heavily protected and they had no way in. They didn't have a way in now, except a crazy plan that would never work, but they did have a plan, a goblin, a hair from Bellatrix herself, and Bellatrix's wand.

And so Ron, Hermione, and Harry broke into Gringotts, stole a horcrux from one of the most heavily protected vaults there were, and escaped on the back of an old blind dragon. Voldemort's fury led Harry to the next horcrux, the one at the school. The three friends apparated to Hogsmeade and were given shelter in the HogsHead by none other than Aberforth Dumbledore, who showed them the secret passageway into the room of requirement, where Neville and their friends were hiding out. The room of course looked nothing like the lilac beach room he had shared with Draco, but was full of hammocks for the refugees to sleep in.

Luna and Dean arrived first, having gotten a message from Neville. Then more reinforcement arrived in the form of the Weasley kids and more members from Dumbledore's Army. Reinforcements were good, but Harry still didn't know where to look for the horcrux, other than it was in the school, so he asked for advice. Luna told Harry about the story of Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem and took Harry to the Ravenclaw common room, where they were discovered by the Carrows, who summoned Voldemort.

Professor McGonagall vanquished Snape and Harry questioned a ghost, which eventually led Harry back to the room of requirement as the battle raged on outside the castle and more reinforcements, from both sides, arrived. Ron and Hermione were there, with a destroyed cup and several basilisk fangs in their hands. And then the three of them entered the room of requirement, which was once again turned into the room of hidden things.

They were searching for the diadem when Crabbe and Goyle showed up, minus their leader. Draco's henchmen were a bit like chicken with their head's cut off now that they were without him. Crabbe wanted to kill Harry, while Goyle just wanted the glory from bringing Harry in. Crabbe started the fire and Harry and Ron grabbed brooms. Ron, Hermione, and Harry managed to rescued Goyle, while Crabbe and the diadem were left to burn.

And then they were out of the room of requirement and safe with all of the inanimate horcruxes destroyed. They only had Nagini left and then it would be Voldemort himself. The three friends went off into the fray of battle to reach the snake. Then Hermione asked Harry to use his scar and his connection with Voldemort to find out where Voldemort was, because the snake would be with Voldemort.

Harry looked and he found Voldemort in the haunted shack with Mr. Goyle, whose face was bruised and eye was swollen shut after being punished for the part he played in letting Harry, Ron, and Hermione escape from Malfoy Manor. Mr. Goyle was asking about his son Gregory. All of the other Slytherin children had been released through the secret passage from the room of requirement to the HogsHead, but Gregory was not with them and Mr. Goyle was very worried about him. He had given his wand up to Voldemort prior to the battle of the Seven Potters and was now without a weapon and without a means of rescuing his son from the castle. Voldemort told Goyle to stop grumbling about Gregory and sent the man off to fetch Snape.

Harry returned to his own body and told his friends what he had seen and they began to make their way down the castle stairs again and down the tunnel guarded by the Whomping Willow. Voldemort was there talking to Snape; Voldemort had Dumbledore's wand, the Elder wand, but the wand wouldn't work right for him, because he was not the wand's true owner. Voldemort's solution was to feed Snape to Nagini, besting the man who had bested Dumbledore. But although Snape had killed Dumbledore, Dumbledore had already been bested before that by a young boy in his office when he had rather oddly requested a duel.

Harry gathered Snape's memories into a flask and took them back to the headmaster's office to use Dumbledore's pensieve. It was then that he learned of Snape's relationship with his mother, how they had been best friends and how Snape had loved her. He learned of how Snape had tried to save the Potters and had begged Voldemort to spare them.

But Voldemort couldn't do that, because the boy had to die. The one thing Voldemort did do was offer Lily a choice and that choice had allowed Lily to sacrifice herself for her only son, invoking the old magic which had protected Harry. Snape's request had helped Lily save Harry. Then Snape went on to be Harry's greatest protector, always behind the scenes, but protecting Harry when no one else did. Snape was continuing to protect him, because down to his dying breath, Snape had lied to Voldemort and let Voldemort believe that Snape was the master of the Elder wand, when in fact it was Harry.

Snape hadn't murdered Dumbledore, but granted an old man's request for death. Dumbledore was dying already, from the hand, and had asked Snape to do it, to spare him the pain of the curse. Harry didn't really know what to make of this and there were so many new facts to digest, so he pushed it aside and moved onto the next flash of memory.

Snape had sent Harry the Sword of Gryffindor and Draco's wand, not Lucius Malfoy. Snape was the owner of the doe patronus, but he let Harry think it was Lucius. Snape had seen Draco since Dumbledore's death. Snape was the secret keeper for the Malfoys and Snape had kept Harry's new family safe. Snape had even delivered the babies and told Narcissa and Lucius to go to the muggles for help. And just the day before, Snape had held a little blond baby in one arm and a raven haired baby in the other. It was the first glimpse Harry ever got of his sons and Snape, like so much else in his life, had given it to him.

Then Harry learned of Dumbledore's betrayal; how Dumbledore had been grooming Harry like a lamb being led to the slaughter. Harry had a piece of Voldemort's soul in his scar, which meant Harry had to die, because Harry was a horcrux. There were two horcruxes left and they both had to go: the snake and Harry. Voldemort was waiting out in the forest for Harry at that very moment and Harry would go.

Harry told Neville to kill the snake as he walked down the front steps. He finally figured out Dumbledore's blasted riddle and realized what words he must say to open the snitch. He said them and got the ring. He turned the Deathly Hallow over in his hands and his dead family surrounded him; his mother, his father, his godfather, and even Remus.

Harry thought then about the living family he was leaving behind; Draco and the babies. He was going to die without ever seeing his sons with his own eye and that glimpse of them from Snape would be the last glimpse he would ever see of them. But it was better this way, because Voldemort would never know of their existent and Voldemort would be dead soon. Harry would be dead too, but Draco and the boys would go on. Draco would remarry and his sons would grow up happy, never knowing what they had lost.

And then Harry was in the clearing in the forest and he let Voldemort kill him. There was King's Cross Station and Dumbledore, while the bit of Voldemort that had been inside Harry gasped its last breaths. Harry thought death was next, but when Dumbledore told him he could go back, Harry jumped at the chance, because he still had two sons to meet. His consciousness reentered his body and Voldemort too came back. Mrs. Goyle, the obese woman who had come to the school looking for Draco, was there standing over him, guarding him. He could hear her labored breathing.

Voldemort ordered Elizabeth Goyle to check on Harry and the woman leaned down with a grunt and whispered, "Is he alright? Up at the school, is Greg still alive?"

Harry nodded ever so slightly and Mrs. Goyle lied to Voldemort in her desire to have Gregory back. Voldemort ordered Hagrid to carry Harry's body and together they marched back to the school, with Mrs. Goyle trailing behind slowly with her heavy, but determined steps.

Neville challenged Voldemort, pulled the Sword of Gryffindor from the Sorting Hat, and slashed off Nagini's head.

A heard of reinforcements arrived and Harry slipped out the invisibility cloak, covering himself up as the crowd was distracted. The giants and centaurs forced the wizards into the castle as the final battle started. Molly killed Bellatrix and in his fury, Voldemort turned his wand on Molly. But Harry was quicker, saving Molly with a shielding charm, before he threw off the cloak and revealed himself. Harry dueled Voldemort, defeating the dark wizard with a simple expelliarmus. Then it was all over and Harry was looking around him, checking to see which of his friends had made it through and which were dead; so many were dead. Remus, Tonks, Fred, Collin, Lavender, and the list just went on and on.

Mr. and Mrs. Goyle had found Greg Goyle and Harry saw the family flee from the castle. Then there was someone else there, approaching him. A tall blond who he hadn't expected to see was walking towards him; someone he hadn't seen since Sirius' death and the battle in the Ministry for Magic.

"Hello son. Draco sent me to bring you home," Lucius said, reaching out a hand to shake with a wide smile on his face. "I don't think these people will miss you and my grandsons are waiting to meet you, but perhaps we can send an owl to the Daily Prophet tomorrow letting them know that you changed your name?"

Harry didn't know what to say or do at first; he just nodded his head dumbly. But then he returned Lucius' handshake and said, "Yes sir, I'd very much like to see Draco and meet my sons. How are they?"

"Magnificent. Being a grandfather is really quite wonderful," Lucius answered, leading Harry out of the Great Hall.

"Harry dear, where are you going?" Molly Weasley asked, just as they were approaching the entrance hall.

"To meet my sons. My father-in-law is taking me," Harry said.

"That's right; you married the Malfoy boy last year. But your sons dear?" Molly asked.

Harry nodded and Lucius answered, "Yes, Scorpius and Hyperion Malfoy. Draco gave birth to them while Harry was away."

"I didn't even know Draco was pregnant. You'll have to bring them by the Burrow," Molly said.

"We will do no such thing. Scorpius nearly died three times because of what your son did to Draco and now Scorpius has the deformed leg and may never walk. I should thank you to keep your offspring away from my heirs," Lucius said.

"Wh- huh? I assure you I don't understand," Molly said.

"Draco was pregnant when Ron punched him in the stomach last year Mrs. Weasley," Harry explained.

"Oh dear. I'm so sorry to hear that," Molly said.

"Tell Ron and Hermione where I've gone. I'm going to take some time off to spend with my family," Harry said.

"Yes, spoken like a true Malfoy, now let's get you home," Lucius said.

"Bye Mrs. Weasley and I'm so sorry about Fred," Harry called back over his shoulder as Lucius once again pulled him towards the entryway.

As Lucius and Harry walked past the Black Lake and towards the front gates, Harry thought of something that was bothering him. "Sir, why is it that you came? I thought Draco was going to use the parchment he left me to tell me where he was hiding?"

"Draco is not the secret keeper, so he cannot tell you. He only told you that so that you would keep the parchment with you, which allowed my son to communicate with you whenever he wished. The plan was to get you home and then the next time Severus, who is our secret keeper, came over, he would give you the secret." Lucius didn't know what would happen to the fidelius spell now that their secret keeper was dead and thought there was a chance the spell had ended with its caster.

"Oh," Harry said. He thought about it and it sounded right, so he continued walking. "But then how will I get in?"

"I shall take you by side-along."

"You'll take me directly to Draco and not try to kill me first?"

"Look at your parchment."

Harry stopped walking for a second as he removed his parchment from his pouch around his neck. Sometime during all of the chaos he must have missed the burning, because the parchment now read, "Harry, I'm sending my father to come get you. Please go with him." It was Draco's writing and it was signed, "-Love your husband- Draco Malfoy."

Well that was good enough for Harry, so he tucked the parchment back into his pouch and continued walking towards Hogsmeade.

Once Harry and Lucius were outside the gates, Harry took Lucius' arm and Lucius side along apparated them to the Malfoy villa in France.

"The boys should be just up from their afternoon nap," Lucius said, before leading Harry upstairs to the nursery, where Draco was sitting on the bed, holding a baby boy in each arm.

The twins were now six months old and had grown much larger since their births. Hyperion weighed sixteen pounds and was a chubby, happy baby who greeted Harry with a smile and said "Da da da da da," while pounding his opened little palm against Draco's arm. Hyperion's eyes were green and his hair was messy and blond. Scorpius was smaller, both thinner and shorter than his brother. Scorpius had light grey eyes and neatly groomed black hair that lay flat on his head. Scorpius greeted Harry with a screeching wail and squirmed in Draco's arms, trying to get away.

"Calm down Harry; you're upsetting Scorpius," was the first thing Draco said to Harry after a year apart.

"What? I didn't even say anything," Harry replied confused.

Scorpius continued to wail and Draco said to Lucius, "He's not calming down, is he?"

Then Draco stood up and handed a struggling Scorpius over to his father. He grabbed the strap of the breast pump machine, slinging it over his shoulder, before taking a happy Hyperion to Harry. "Come on, let's go downstairs; my father will watch Scorpius," Draco said, tugging on Harry's arm to get him to move.

"But I want to see Scorpius too," Harry protested, but followed Draco downstairs. "Why is he crying?" Draco had a black bag over his shoulder, but Harry barely noticed it and didn't think twice about it, assuming it was a nappy bag.

"Because you wouldn't calm down," Draco explained, leading Harry into the drawing room. "He's sensitive, Harry. He can feel your magic crackling and hissing. You just killed the Dark Lord and he can tell; you scared him."

"I scared him?" Harry asked. He was sitting on a sofa next to Draco, who still had the blond baby in his arms.

"Harry, you've _felt_ magic before, right?"

"Um, yeah, I guess," Harry answered, thinking back to something Dumbledore had said to him in Voldemort's cave by the sea about feeling the dark magic in the place.

"Most people can train themselves to become attuned to the different feel of magics, with dark magic vibrating at a different pitch than light magic, yeah?"

"I never really thought about it, but yeah, I guess."

"And like any other skill, some people are born with a natural talent for it; Scorpius is one of those people. He can feel your magic crackling and sparking like a storm before the thunder and lightning; I can feel it on you," Draco said, letting his fingers hover millimeters above Harry's skin.

"You can?"

"Yes, Malfoy, I can," Draco said, before leaning in and kissing Harry, Hyperion clutched to his side so that he didn't smash the baby. Draco wasn't nearly as sensitive to magic as Scorpius was, but Harry's magic was practically screaming to the world. "You know, I think I like calling you that."

Somehow the name fit Harry like a glove. After all that fretting about changing his name last year, now that the time to switch had come, he found the change welcome. His new name came with the return of his family and signaled his acceptance into said family, even by Lucius Malfoy. He didn't even have to think about it to know that he wanted to be a Malfoy. The Malfoys, after all, had turned out to be the type of family he wanted to join; the type of family who put its members first and protected its weakened members against even the most grave threats of attack. He could never forget that while the war raged, it was the Malfoys who had guarded, protected, and cared for Draco and the twins from their own side. All of Draco and Lucius' past crimes would forever be forgotten by Harry for the simple fact that they had managed to keep Scorpius and Hyperion safe.

"I think I like it when you do," Harry replied, looking down at the very wet little hand that was getting saliva all over his arm. "Can I hold him? Is this Hyperion?"

"Yes and yes," Draco answered, handing Hyperion over. "I was telling him that his da da, as he calls you, was coming to see him today."

Draco handed over the baby and for the first time, Harry held his first born in his arms. "Hello Hyperion. Daddy loves you so much and I'm never going to go away for so long ever again. Were you a good boy for your father?"

"He's a perfect little boy. Severus is always telling me home much like your mother he is."

Harry remembered then Snape's memories of his mother. "I'm glad; he loved her, you."

"No, I didn't. I thought you'd be mad that I'd lied to you about him being with us. I wanted to tell you, but you couldn't know; he couldn't accomplish what he needed to unless the Dark Lord trusted him."

"No, I'm not mad. In fact, I'd name Hyperion after him if I hadn't already suggested Hyperion." There were so many people who had died since the last time they had discussed names; so many people he would name a son after.

"I'd be honored to name our son after him; we haven't turned in the paperwork."

"Really? You'd do that? Name him Hyperion Severus instead of Hyperion Draco?"

"Yes. It was Severus who saved them by stopping the preterm labor twice and then delivered them. It was even Severus who originally had the idea to go to the muggles for help if something went wrong and then when something did go wrong, he sent my mother and father off to the muggles straight away."

"Brilliant! I'd love that."

"I thought you hated Professor Snape; I never would've thought you'd name our son after him, although I'm glad you changed your mind. He's a big part of our lives and it'll be easier if the two of you can coexist."

"That was because I didn't know. He sacrificed himself for me today, so that I could defeat Voldemort."

"How so? Where is he?"

"He's dead Draco; Voldemort killed him."

"No!" Draco screamed, jumping up and away from Harry, the black bag flopping against Draco's side as he went. "That can't be; he was just here. He missed his visit today, but he promised to come by tomorrow." Thick tear tracks were running down his face now.

Harry stood up, holding the baby with one arm and put the other arm around Draco, before kissing the tears away. He led his husband back over to the sofa and held Draco in one arm while Draco broke down in grief, sobbing into his shoulder.

Draco let himself cry over his loss for a good while, but then he pulled himself together, because for the first time in almost a year, he had his husband there with him again. When he finally calmed down, he was once again sitting next to Harry and the baby on the sofa. Hyperion was utterly clueless as to what had happened. "You have absolutely no idea what is going on, do you?" Draco asked his son. "You probably think Uncle Severus is going to come by to play with you any minute now."

"Uncle Severus?"

"Yeah, we started calling Professor Snape that. He really took a liking to the babies, especially Hyperion. When Scorpius was in the hospital, it was Professor Snape who stayed with me and did most of the taking care of Hyperion while I recovered. Uncle Severus is pretty much Hyperion's favorite person."

"Then I'm glad you made his middle name after Snape. He must've been the bravest man I ever knew."

"Well yes, he was that. Now that I think of it, Severus Hyperion Malfoy sounds like an excellent name and I haven't filled out the birth certificates yet."

"You'd do that for me? Change his first name?"

"Yeah. Then it'd be Scorpius and Severus; it sounds better, doesn't it?"

"It does. Hyperion and Scorpius sounds good too though."

"But Hyperion doesn't have any suitable nicknames. Did you know the muggles tried calling him Ryan?"

"No. I would think Hyper," Harry suggested.

"No, just no. But if Severus is the first name, we can call him Sev."

"Sev is a good name, although he doesn't seem to have a very sever personality."

"No, Scorpius is the more sever of the two. Hyperion is the happy one. His Uncle Severus was always saying how he has his grandmother's smile and infectious laugh. He said Hyperion looks just like your mother."

"He would know; he was my mother's best friend."

"I didn't know that."

"He kept his secrets close to the vest."

"Yes, he did. We're going to miss him. I'll certainly be glad to have another Severus around the house."

"Yeah. I'm glad he looks like my mum; before he was born I was thinking it'd be nice if they had some of my mum's features. Did either of them get anything of my dad's?"

"Hy- I guess I need to get used to calling him Sev now, isn't that right little guy?" Draco said, talking to the baby for a second, before turning back to Harry. "Sev has your father's follicle structure and Scorpius has your father's hair color. I'm rather upset neither of them got his blue eyes."

"Well hopefully the next one will have blue eyes. But follicle structure?"

"You haven't noticed that it's completely impossible for me to make Sev's hair lay flat? You'd never know I brushed it before you came. I haven't tried grooming charms, because he's too little, but you're gonna have to take him and have his follicles permanently rearranged. I asked mother and she said they can do it as early as the second birthday."

"I didn't even know there was such a thing."

"There is and we already talked about this and agreed that it's necessary."

"We did? I wasn't here."

"Hyperion and I talked about it. Mother, father, and Severus did as well. Everyone agreed that it was for the best. And it wouldn't hurt to make it a double appointment and send you in too."

"I kind of like my hair."

"Think about how much time it'll save to have it fixed," Draco said and the baby dripped drool onto Harry's arm, while making happy noises.

Harry looked down at his happily babbling son in his arms. "Wow, you really do talk a lot," he said, trying to figure out if there were any words in the sounds or not.

"He said his first real word last week when Uncle Severus was holding him," Draco said looking at his husband holding his son and bonding. Then the grief hit him again and he let out another sob and a few more tears.

Harry wasn't too sure how to comfort someone else in their grief and he had a lot of grief of his own; for Snape, and for Fred, Tonks, and Remus as well. He ended up pulling Draco's body closer to his and encouraging Draco to lie Draco's head down on his shoulder, holding the baby on the other side of his lap. The baby babbled and wiggled and then started bouncing up and down. Then a chubby hand reached out and grabbed a fist full of Draco's hair.

"Ow, not father's hair please Hyper- um Sev. You know the rule: no pulling," Draco said and then let out another sob.

"What word did Sev say?" Harry asked, now that Draco had calmed down a bit.

"Oh, yeah, he said elf."

"Elf?"

"Well yeah, he loves the elves, even more than he loves Uncle Severus. The elves watch out for him when I set him down; you know, stop him from getting into things or getting hurt. But then he likes to go after them; he can't go that far or that fast, but he can scooch forward. He'll gum the elves if he can get a hold of one, especially when he's cutting a tooth."

"Do you have teeth then, little man? Open up and show Daddy," Harry said, tickling a finger under the baby's chin. Sev opened his mouth and let out a squeal of delight, showing Harry a gummy smile with two front teeth. "Wow, two of them already?"

"Yes, and let me tell you they are sharp. Scorpius doesn't have any yet, thank Merlin."

"Do you bite your father? I won't have you mistreating my husband; I'll get you a teething ring if you need something to chew on."

"I've had to switch him to the bottle; my poor nipples couldn't take it anymore."

"Are you still, um, you know with Scorpius?" Harry asked, not sure how to approach the subject of breast feeding when Draco had been so determined to ignore the topic before.

"Yes and I'm still feeding Hy-um-Sev too, I just pump it first and then feed him the bottle," Draco said and the baby started a long string of babbling B sounds.

"That's great. Really great," Harry said. He wanted to ask Draco how long Draco planned to keep the breast feeding up for, but he couldn't figure out how to broach the subject. He was also curious as to what Draco's chest looked like underneath the robes, but he didn't ask that question either, figuring Draco would take the robes off eventually.

* * *

Author's Note: Harry is finally home! I'll be slowing it down again, now that the war is over and the events are different from the books. Harry and Draco have a lot of adjusting to each other to do.

What do you think of naming the baby Severus? I'd planned to change Hyperion's name all along, which is why Harry and Draco spent so long waffling about what to name him: they hadn't thought of the perfect name yet.


	15. Chapter 15

"Oh, by the way, I have something to return to you," Harry said, pulling out Draco's wand. He had used the Elder wand to repair his old phoenix feather wand, so he didn't need Draco's wand anymore.

"You can keep it; I've got the Malfoy wand."

"I don't need it anymore. I used Dumbledore's wand, which was the Elder wand from the eldest Peverell brother and one of the Deathly Hallows, to mend my wand." Harry pulled his own wand out to show Draco.

"You've got the Elder wand? Can I have it?" Why was Harry offering Draco his old wand back, when Harry had the Elder wand?

"I _had_ the Elder wand, but after I repaired my wand, I broke the Elder wand and threw the pieces into the Black Lake. But you can certainly have your wand back." Harry handed the Hawthorn wand back to Draco, who took it and held it.

"Why did you do that? It was one of the Deathly Hallows! A priceless irreplaceable magical artifact!" Draco was thinking that this type of thing was the reason purebloods didn't want muggleborns around, because they do stupid shite like destroy one of the Deathly Hallows.

"Sorry, but I wanted to break the cycle of death and destruction caused by that wand. It's too powerful for any one wizard to wield, so I destroyed it. Next time a dark wizard rises to power, the Death Stick will be out of play."

"You sound like destroying an irreplaceable magical artifact is something that happens every day and isn't a big deal."

"Well…um…"

"What? Don't tell me you had more magical artifacts in your possession and you destroyed those too."

"I had too, to defeat Voldemort. He made them into horcruxes, so to destroy him, I had to destroy all of the horcruxes."

Draco wasn't familiar with the term horcrux, so Harry explained it and then went on to tell Draco what the horcruxes were.

"You destroyed Hufflepuff's cup, Ravenclaw's diadem, Slytherin's locket, the Elder wand, and the stone of the second Peverell brother? You almost had all of the Hallows of Death!"

"Actually, my invisibility cloak is the cloak from the third brother, so I owned all three Hallows, I just didn't physically have them on me at the same time. I think that's why I lived last night after Voldemort hit me with the killing curse."

"You survived the killing curse again? Isn't this your third time now?

"Fourth. What killed Voldemort was when the killing curse he aimed at me backfired and hit him."

"Do me a favor and don't make it a fifth time; you've practically given me a heart attack."

"Deal; no more killing curses," Harry agreed.

"I wish I had the Elder wand."

"I can't get you that, but I can give you the Hawthorn wand that foiled Voldemort with a simple expelliarmus."

"Yeah, this wand practically defeated the Dark Lord. It may not be the Elder wand, but it's always been a good wand. I'll keep in for when Scorpius becomes Lord Malfoy and I pass him the Malfoy wand." Draco put the wand in his wand pocket for storage; he'd put it in a secure location later.

"I thought the first born would be the Malfoy lord."

"But the title comes with the Malfoy wand, which comes with a cane and Hyperion won't have actual need of a cane, when in all likelihood, Scorpius will. I talked to father about it and he said that since they are twins born at the same time, I can choose whichever one I want to be the next Lord Malfoy; if they weren't twins, then I'd have no choice and have to give it to the first born. To me, Scorpius has always seemed like the Lord Malfoy. Besides, Professor Snape said something about leaving the Prince family artifacts to Hyperion and Hyperion looks more like your family, so I thought it'd be good to give him the inheritance from the Potters and the Blacks. I didn't think it would be much and I figured we'd have to come up with a lot of galleons and fix up Grimmauld Place, but the invisibility cloak of the third brother is a pretty big deal. Add in a few Black and Prince relics and it'll probably rival the Malfoy inheritance that Scorpius is getting.

"Yeah, that makes sense. Their inheritances won't be identical, but they'll be equivalent." Harry agreed.

Harry and Draco sat on the sofa in the drawing room playing with their first born son for a few minutes more when they heard a wail come from upstairs. Moments later, Narcissa came to the stairwell and announced, "Draco, Scorpius is hungry."

"Will you be alright watching Hyperion for a bit? If you have any questions you can call Mother." Draco gave the baby a kiss and then stood up.

"Yeah, sure," Harry answered.

Draco went upstairs and retrieved Scorpius from his parents, removing the breast pumps in order to let his baby latch on. While Scorpius was suckling, Draco changed the collection bottles on the breast pump, calling an elf to take the two full ones. He had several months without needing the contraption, but once Hyperion had started teething, Draco turned back to the pump. It was easier just to keep the breast pump on under his clothes most of the time, so that he could pump while going about his life. He had gotten used to the process and barely noticed the pump anymore, although it was quite relieving and refreshing when he did take the contraption off. But then the pressure of unpumped milk would build up and that was painful.

"How is Harry darling?" Narcissa asked, once Scorpius was settled into nursing.

"Fine, I guess," Draco answered.

"I think it'd be best to contact the Prophet tomorrow and for Harry to give an interview; the two of you can announce your marriage and the births of your children at the same time they announce the victory of Harry Malfoy," Lucius said.

"Yeah, I guess I should talk to him about that," Draco replied.

"I'm just going to go downstairs and wait with Harry. It's an unfamiliar house after all," Narcissa said.

Draco agreed, so Narcissa left the room. Lucius talked for a few minutes about all the things that really must be listed in the paper tomorrow. Then Lucius decided that tomorrow might be too late, because with something this big, the Prophet was sure to release a special evening issue.

Lucius was just getting up to send the editors an owl, to make sure they had Harry's last name right, when Draco remembered Severus and his loss hit him with a throbbing pang of grief again. "Did you, ah, were you aware Severus died today?"

"Yes. I ran into the Goyles in Hogsmeade; charming Elizabeth needed to take a break and catch her breath after all of that walking. Charles told me what happened. It was awful, truly, what the Dark Lord did to their family when they were nothing but loyal followers. Charles defenseless without a wand and Elizabeth forced to come out of the house to find her only son. I should count myself lucky to have a son who made me see the light before I lost everything," Lucius answered.

"Did you know what he was planning? Severus, I mean; was he planning to sacrifice himself all along?" Draco asked, letting silent tears fall down his cheeks, but then summoning a tissue and wiping them away.

"He wasn't suicidal; he would've come back to us if there was any other way, but yes, if it came to that, he was planning to die to protect Harry and defeat the Dark Lord. I think he was just surprised the Dark Lord hadn't killed him sooner."

"But why Father? Why'd Severus have to die? Why couldn't someone else do it? Why didn't anyone from the blasted bloody Order do it?"

"Because of the wand. Dumbledore had the Elder wand all along and the Dark Lord wanted it. He took it from the old man's tomb, but it wouldn't work for Him, because He wasn't its true owner. He thought Severus was, because Severus killed Dumbledore, so he murdered Severus quite horribly. But what He didn't know, what Severus told me yesterday before he left, was that Severus wasn't the true owner. Harry had bested Dumbledore in a duel days _before_ Dumbledore's death. Harry was the true owner of the wand the Dark Lord was using and Severus was counting on that making all the difference when it came to the final battle. I don't know for certain what happened, but from what I heard, it seems that it did."

"I wish it didn't have to be him; I want him back so much. It seems like this can't be real, like Severus is going to apparate into the room any moment now. I can't believe I'll never see him again."

"I wish it weren't so. He was a good man and I will be eternally indebted to him for what he did for you and your mother in my absence."

"Harry and I were talking," Draco started but didn't continue.

"Hmm," Lucius urged Draco to continue.

"We were thinking of changing Hyperion's name. Severus Hyperion, instead of Hyperion Draco. We can call him Sev."

"I think he'd like that. I've never seen him happier than when he was holding Hyperion. He told me he thought Hyperion was aptly named, because the boy shone like the sun and lit up the world with his presence."

"He lit up Severus' world. Harry told me Severus and Harry's mother were best friends. That must be why he was always talking about Sev looking like her."

"I'm sure it is, although I still say I see a lot of your mother's family in the boy. He looks like the Rosiers to me."

Draco knew that it was difficult for Lucius to admit his grandson looked like a mudblood; the man was still coming to grips with the less than stellar blood purity of the babies. There was the occasional halfblood in the Malfoy family tree, but never anyone less than three generations removed from muggles, while Harry was only second generation wizard on his mother's side. And even then, the Malfoys always hushed it up like a horrible secret and pretended that their blood was as pure as it could be. It seemed that Lucius had a similar way of coping with this situation and was pretending the problem didn't exist. Thus Hyperion looked like Grandmother Druella's family, since he didn't look like any of the rest of them. And Draco was fine with ignoring the issue and letting his father have his little delusion.

While Draco was upstairs, Harry was still in the drawing room with the baby. Harry started with examining his young son, trying to take in the little features he had been longing to see for so long. He searched for a resemblance to himself and to Draco, but he found little. The little face was far to round and the features not nearly sharp enough to be Malfoy-esque. Narcissa too was too thin and sharp in the face to match. Harry thought he saw a bit of himself in the curve of the cheek, but truly who this baby reminded him of was Dudley and the baby pictures Aunt Petunia had up. Although the features weren't quite the same and he hung on to that small favor, because he didn't want to compare his son to his whale of a cousin.

That got Harry thinking of the Dursleys and wondering whatever happened to them in hiding. The war was over, so they were probably going back to their house on Privet Drive and were happy to be rid of the freaks.

Harry didn't waste much thought over the Dursleys and his mind quickly drifted to Fred when Fred, George, and Ron had rescued him from Dudley's second bedroom. He still couldn't believe Fred was gone. What would the Weasley do without Fred? What would he do? Fred was like an older brother to him; it was Fred and George who had gotten him the sex book. It was Fred and George who had gifted him the Marauder's map. It was Fred and George who had provided him with distractions in fifth year when he needed them. Fred and George were always there for him and now it was just George.

Harry sat there with a very active baby on his lap as he thought about Fred. Sev hit him on the face with a spittle coated hand, saying, "Daaaa ahhh da dat da ah uh eeee da."

Narcissa came downstairs and found Harry looking forlorn and contemplative. She sat down next to him and asked, "How are you Harry dear? Today must have been awful for you, I'm sure."

"It was. So many people died today."

"Yes, I imagine a great many good witches and wizards died today." Narcissa waited a minute to see if Harry would say something about who precisely he was missing or if it was bloodshed and corpses in general, but Harry just nodded. "I will greatly miss Severus. Is there anyone you are thinking of dear?"

Seeing Narcissa made Harry think of her sister Andromeda Tonks and from there, Tonks and Remus. "Severus' death was awful, but it wasn't just him I lost and I was never really that close to him; I couldn't be. I was just thinking of Fred Weasley. And then Tonks and Remus died today; they have a new son. He was showing me a picture of him today. Teddy. He said they made me the godfather."

"Oh yes, Andy did write me about that. It's been so awful for her this year with Ted gone, but I had no idea about Dora and her husband. How awful it is for little Teddy; orphaned already and he's not even as old as Hyperion here."

"I want to be there for him. I'm the godfather; I should be there for him."

"We can firecall Andy and invite them over. This villa is full up and I'd feel horrible about not being able to offer her a guest bedroom, but little Teddy can stay in a basinet in the nursery and there's the spare bed in there that Andy could use. I planned a late supper today; we were going to sit down to eat as soon as Draco finishes feeding Scorpius, but there is always room for more."

The baby was babbling B now around his fingers, which he had stuck in his mouth. "Ba baa ba ah dah b aba bla ah bab."

"That would be nice. I don't know if she has much other family," Harry said.

"Why don't I use the floo and ask her over and you can give Hyperion his bottle. He does that, tries to eat his fingers, when he's hungry you know."

"Oh, I didn't know. Should I get some milk from Draco?"

"No. You can, but there's plenty of the stuff and I find it easier to ask a house elf to bring you a bottle of it. Mipsy!" Narcissa called.

A house elf appeared and Narcissa asked for a bottle. Sev reached out towards the elf and grunted, throwing his weight away from Harry in his efforts to get the elf. The elf snapped its fingers and a bottle appeared in its hand, which it handed over to Narcissa, before disappearing again, which caused Sev to let out a loud squeal. "Mipsy already warmed it up," Narcissa said, handing it over to Harry.

"Thank you," Harry said, taking the bottle, which was made out of heavy glass.

It had been so long since Harry had done this that he wasn't sure about it at first, but then it was just a bottle and there was no trick to it really. Sev was bigger and more active than the doll in the room of requirement but he was still just a baby and the bottle still went in the same hole. Sev grabbed onto the bottle and pulled, urging him along. He took the hint and inserted the nipple into Sev's mouth. Sev held on with both hands and he wondered if he should let go and just let his son do it or if the bottle was too heavy. It was made out of glass and he thought it might hurt Sev if it fell on his face. He wanted to ask Narcissa about it, but when he looked up Narcissa had her head in the floo, talking to her sister. He decided to error on the safe side and just hold the bottle for the baby.

Narcissa pulled her head out of the flames and said, "The news had just reached Andy. She was all alone with the baby and received an owl from Kingsley informing her of the deaths. She's heartbroken, but she agreed to come over after supper; she has to get their things together and she already ate before she heard the news."

"Oh, okay," Harry said, not knowing what else he should say.

"I'll just go upstairs and direct the house elves to prepare for their arrival," Narcissa said, before doing just that.

Harry was left in the drawing room feeding the baby. When the bottle was empty, he set it down and burped his son, although it was rather awkward with such a large baby and Sev didn't think he should sit still for it. Sev's little feet kicked and his little hands fisted Harry's jumper and all the while Sev grunted and fussed. Then Sev got his little feet firmly planted on Harry's lap and kicked out at the same time as he pushed and Harry almost dropped the baby, but caught onto him at the last second.

"What're you doing Sev? Stay still so Daddy can burp you," Harry told the baby, but the baby just fussed and whined and didn't burp.

Draco came downstairs then with Scorpius on one hip and the bag with the breast pump on the other and he noticed Harry trying to burp Sev. "He won't be burped, Harry, you missed that faze by months. But if you want you can put him in his highchair and feed him a cracker," Draco said, standing in the entrance to the sitting room.

"Yeah, alright. Does he eat anything besides crackers?" Harry asked, standing up with Sev and walking towards Draco and Scorpius. He was relieved when he was standing right next to them and Scorpius didn't cry.

"Yeah, mashed foods mostly. We still have a bit of winter squash and jarred grape mash we saved for them, although now that we can send the elves to the store again, we can see about trying something new. Something green I should think; I haven't had peas or green beans in ages," Draco said, leading Harry to the dining room.

"What have you been eating here?" Harry asked, hoping his family hadn't been starving while in hiding.

Draco put Scorpius into the highchair with the green sea turtles and then helped Harry do the same with Sev and the blue highchair.

"The first lettuce and cabbage were harvested recently and that was a treat. The grapes haven't come in yet, so it's mostly cheese, milk, and dried pasta. We save the crackers, the jarred grape mash, and the squash for the boys and the bread for cheese sandwiches for lunch. We have jarred tomatoes left, so there's tomato and cream soup. Breakfast is mostly yogurt or oatmeal with milk and grape juice, although even the oatmeal we're running low on, but we have all the milk, cheese, yogurt, and ice cream we can eat," Draco said, before calling a house elf and asking for crackers for the babies.

"What were you planning on doing for food next year if I didn't end the war when I did?" Harry asked as Draco handed him two crackers for Sev and gave two to Scorpius.

"The vegetables in the garden will be up soon and then the grapes will come in. Mother had the house elves plant some corn this year that we were looking forward to and of course the carrots, broccoli, and green beans will be nice, but mostly it's tomatoes. We're up to our ears in tomatoes and grapes all summer. The squash is of course set aside for the winter and there's always more than enough dairy products to go around. We still have more dried pasta, and Severus promised to smuggle in more oatmeal and wheat soon. The house elves would stretch the oatmeal and wheat if Severus couldn't get more and it came to that. It's less nutritious if you stretch it, but we would've lived."

"Why so much tomatoes, grapes, and milk?" Harry wondered, watching Sev tear up the cracker with his two teeth. Scorpius too was gumming a cracker, but wasn't demolishing it as totally as his brother.

"Tomatoes because we've always had tomatoes in the garden; giant ones that rival the school's pumpkins, milk because of the two dairy cows we have on the property, and grapes because this is a vineyard. We use the grapes grown here to make all our wine. We let it age for decades in the very expansive cellars and have the house elves bring it up as needed. When the cellars get too full, we sell the excess off, but mostly we keep it for the family first."

"Have you been drinking wine with dinner every night then?"

"Since I was ten, yeah, but not since you knocked me up. I can't drink while breast feeding, you should know that."

Harry had forgotten about the breast feeding for a moment and felt stupid for asking. He was about to apologize when Narcissa called out, "Draco, Harry, where are you dears? It's time for supper." Then Narcissa was in the doorway to the dining room. "Oh there you are. Lucius, they're in here."

Lucius appeared at the doorway behind Narcissa and they both came in and took their seats around the table. Then an old lady came in and said, "So this is the halfblood scum who Bella was raving about. I was telling Cissy that she really ought to have had more children, so she could afford to disinherit Draco for marrying beneath him."

"Er," Harry said, not really sure who this woman was or how he should respond to that.

"Don't mind mother, Harry, no one else does. She lost Bella today and she's worse for it," Narcissa said.

"And you Cissy! You should be ashamed of yourself, carrying on like this is a happy occasion when that halfblood scum you call a son-in-law just killed your only sister! Bella may have been crazy, but at least she was loyal to the cause."

"Druella, if I'm not mistaken, you agreed to come and stay here with my darling Cissy and our halfblood scum of a son-in-law, as you put it, so perhaps it would be best if you were to hold your tongue?" Lucius asked.

"Yes mother, do sit down for supper," Narcissa said. And the food arrived at the word supper, emphasizing her point.

Druella sat and Harry leaned over to Draco and asked in a whisper, "Isn't Andromeda also your mum's sister and isn't she still alive?"

"Grandmother Druella doesn't count her; it's best not to mention it around her. It's best not to mention anything around her really, or she's liable to go off."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Is my presence making it worse? Perhaps I shou-," Harry started to say, but Draco cut him off.

"Perhaps you should shut it and eat something. You're not going anywhere; Grandmother is worse today because of Aunt Bella's death, that's all. It has nothing to do with you," Draco said, stabbing a bit of lasagna with his fork.

"That's not true! He probably killed her himself!" Druella accused with a long knobbly finger.

"Mother!" Narcissa scolded.

"Actually, mam, it was Mrs. Weasley who killed Bellatrix," Harry said.

"Weasley? Which one?" Druella asked, suddenly losing all of the color in her cheeks.

"Molly Weasley," Harry answered.

"Molly Weasley. I think I just lost my appetite," Druella said, getting up from the table and leaving.

"Don't mind her Harry, please dig in. We are all thrilled to have you here with us. You are one of the family now and we expect you to live with us. I would like my mother to remain nearby to keep an eye on her, but now that the war's over she can go back to her house," Narcissa said.

"Grandmother isn't always this bad and she's been rather helpful with the babies," Draco said in between bites of food.

Harry didn't know how Draco was able to eat when so many people had just died. He looked down at his slice of lasagna and began to think the old lady had the right idea about not eating. "I hope you never left them alone with her."

"All the time," Draco answered.

"Oh," Harry said. He wanted to order Draco to never do that again, because he didn't trust her. Worst case scenario she would harm them for being impure and best case scenario she would indoctrinate them into pureblood nonsense. But now wasn't the time for that discussion.

"If you'd like, you can take over her afternoon shift while I have my nap. Otherwise I wouldn't advise complaining when you haven't been here and she has. Besides, I know she loves her great grandsons," Draco said.

"Um, yeah, I'd like to spend loads of time with them, if that's alright," Harry said.

Draco agreed and then Sev finished tearing through his crackers and started banging on the trey, making screeching sounds.

"Hey little guy, are you always this active?" Harry asked his son.

"Just when he sees we have food and wants some, but he can't have any, because of the cheese sauce and these noodles aren't mushy enough," Narcissa explained.

"Is there anything he can have?" Harry asked.

"Did he finish that bottle I gave you?" Narcissa asked.

"Yes."

"Then he already ate. He's not hungry; he just wants to try everything," Narcissa explained.

"Oh."

"Harry, if you want you can feed them tomorrow," Draco offered.

"Oh, I just ordered the elves to go shopping, so there should be something new for them by tomorrow," Narcissa said.

You can clean up the mess too," Draco added.

"How messy are they?" Harry asked.

"Scorpius is the calmer, neater, cleaner of the two, but Hyperion has gotten in the habit of flinging his food about lately. He likes to finger paint with it," Draco answered.

Then Lucius said, "I sent the owl off to the Prophet informing them of Harry Malfoy's location and asked them to make sure they get the spelling of the name correct. They owled me back a request for an interview as soon as possible and a promise of a free evening paper. It is of course completely up to you Harry whether or not you would like to do the interview; just let me know and I'll send your reply back to them."

"Um, no, I don't really want to give any interviews," Harry said.

"Would you mind if I did give one?" Draco asked.

"No, I guess not. What are you going to tell them?" Harry asked.

"I could tell them whatever you want me too, but I thought they would have questions about our secret marriage and the children. I'll keep it short, just tell them how we were hiding out and the role we played in the war, behind the scenes. I reckon I deserve that order of Merlin, what with it being my wand that defeated the Dark Lord," Draco answered.

"I hate interviews and I'm sure they'll be beating down my door with requests after this; I wouldn't mind if you did all the interviews actually. I could write you out a short description of how I defeated Him and who helped and you could relay it for me. But I _hate_ the Prophet; I'd rather give the first interview to someone like Mr. Lovegood. His daughter Luna helped me during the war," Harry replied.

"We are investors in the Prophet. It makes sense financially to give the story to them first, although I see no reason why Draco can't give two interviews and also give the story to Mr. Lovegood. But Harry, if there is a problem with the Prophet, I'd like to hear about it, so that I can demand any changes that need to be made," Lucius said.

At this prompting, Harry went off on his dislike of Rita Skeeter and the way the Prophet just printed whatever sensationalism that would sell the most copies, irrespective of the truth.

When Harry finished his rant, Lucius said, "So what you're saying Harry, is that there is a market out there for a newspaper which only prints facts and truths, with reporters who have scruples."

"Yes!" Harry exclaimed. Maybe the Quibbler printed nonsense, but they never told lies about people.

"That's a refreshing idea. If I put together the operation, would you be willing to oversee it on a day to day basis and make sure that your ideals are being upheld?" Lucius asked, not just to take Harry's mind off of the paper that had printed many of those false stories at Lucius' personal urging, but also as a way to keep young Harry from causing trouble or putting himself in any more danger. If Harry had a job with a paper, then he couldn't be an Auror, which wasn't an appropriate job for a Malfoy.

"Um, no sir, I wanted to be an Auror. Can't you find someone else to run it?" Harry asked.

"No, no, that will never do. Either it must be you, or it will turn into another Prophet and we can't have that. If you ever change your mind, do let me know," Lucius said. He didn't want to throw money away on a boring paper that no one would ever read that didn't print what he wanted when he needed publicity spun in his favor unless it was keeping Harry out of trouble. "In the meantime, I'll arrange for Draco to give an interview tomorrow."

After that there was some discussion between Draco and Lucius regarding business plans after the war, because they both thought now was the time to expand and move into new markets and buy up old companies who no longer had anyone left alive to run them. Lucius asked Harry if Harry had any interest in investing and business and Harry informed Lucius of his status as the sole investor in Weasley Wizard Wheezes. Lucius approved of the company and the young talent, even if he couldn't say the same of the Weasley family as a whole. But what Lucius was not impressed with was the way Harry had just given the money to the Weasley twins without a contract and insisted that he go down with Harry to meet with the surviving twin to write something out. Harry didn't like the idea, but Lucius cited Harry's need to provide for his young family and said he was sure they could come to an agreement that was fair for all involved.

Harry grudgingly agreed, but refused to do it anytime soon, because George had just lost Fred.

After dinner Narcissa flooed over to her sister's house and came back with Andromeda and Teddy. Teddy was only two weeks old and sporting lime green hair and blue eyes; at least his hair was lime green when they came through the floo, but it kept changing all night. They gathered in the drawing room and there were many tears, hugs, and condolences over their many losses.

Lucius was the first to leave the room, saying he had business to attend to, and really he did; he had to make certain the Malfoy family came out on top at the end of all of this.

Andromeda asked about her mother Druella, but Narcissa assured Andy that the old woman had gone to bed for the night, still upset over Bellatrix of all people. Andy would likely have to deal with her estranged mother in the morning, but Narcissa thought Druella was ready for a change of heart and to take her daughter back; that was before Bella's death and Narcissa didn't know how Bella's death would change things.

Harry held his godson Teddy for the first time and Andy held her two great nephews for the first time. Teddy was so tiny and Harry wondered if his children had ever been this small. He asked Draco and Draco told him that Sev had been smaller and Scorpius had been half the size of Sev, which Harry had a hard time believing.

Andy was in a bit of disbelief herself that Draco had been pregnant and then had twins all without anyone knowing, but she was accepting enough of the situation and spent far more time bemoaning the loss of her daughter than worrying about what she had missed.

After about forty-five minutes, Draco announced that it was bath time for Scorpius and Sev and gave Harry the choice as to whether Harry wanted to come or stay with Andromeda and Teddy. Harry looked to Andromeda, a woman he barely knew, but whose grief he so thoroughly understood, before looking to his boys, who he had never seen before today.

"Go on dear; I know you haven't had a chance to see them before. I'll be here for a few days, so we have plenty of time to catch-up," Andy said.

Harry nodded and followed Draco, taking Sev as they went up the stairs and into the nursery bathroom. Unlike a regular bathroom, this room only had a bathtub in it, without all of the other fixtures. There was a towel rack on the wall, a cupboard, the tub, and that was it. It was strange, but this was the Malfoys, so anything was possible. "No toilet?" Harry asked.

"No, it had a toilet, a urinal, and a sink, same as all of the other bathrooms, only they're not needed, so they've been concealed. It provides more room and eliminates unnecessary hazards. They'll return and be fully functional with a simple spell," Draco explained, before showing Harry how bath time was done with the aid of two baby seats for the tub, now that both of the boys could sit up. Draco took some soap for Scorpius and passed the bottle to Harry and asked, "So my cousin really made you the godfather then?"

"Yeah, I guess they did."

"I don't mind if you want him to come live with us, but that's something you need to discuss with my aunt; she'll likely want her grandson with her at least part of the time. Just let me know what the two of you decide."

"Really? You'd take Teddy in?" Harry asked surprised. He hadn't imagined Draco to be so generous as to take Teddy in when Draco didn't know Tonks and Remus was a werewolf.

"Yes; he's family and family is very important to Malfoys."

"But I thought your Aunt was blasted off of the family tree?"

"And now that the war is over, my father will have her added back on; one era's blood traitor is another era's key to saving face."

"Oh. But you really won't mind if we take him in? Another baby will mean more work." And if they were to take Teddy in, then they might as well take Andy too, so that she wouldn't have to be separated from her grandson.

"He's around the same age as our boys, so it won't be that bad. The only problem I foresee is a matter of room in the Manor; however you cut it, there are only four bedrooms and I had planned on mother and father living with us. If we take in Teddy, then that will make four children and four adults in four rooms."

"Oh, then I guess asking your aunt to move in is out of the question."

"Certainly. She can floo over whenever she wishes, but the Manor simply doesn't have enough room."

"I thought you lived in a mansion."

"You've been there right?"

"Yeah, but I didn't get the tour."

"Well it's really not as big as we let on. It's a Manor, not a mansion."

"The boys will have to share a room then."

"All three of them in one room? Sounds like life fit for a Weasley."

"Well do you have a better idea?"

"We can make it work when the children are young, but if Teddy really ends up over more often than not, then my mother and father will have to move here permanently. But that will mean a much higher ratio of children to adults and a lot of the help that we'll need on a day to day basis will be a floo call away, instead of right there. We could still make it work, but I'd like some warning."

"Oh, okay, sure. I'll try to bring it up, but I don't really want to get into that sort of thing when your aunt has just lost her family. Her husband died before I escaped from the Manor; I've got your house elves to thank for that escape by the way, but one of them was killed by your aunt in the process."

"We know about the elf; the elves reported to us afterwards and informed me about what happened; I was just glad you all got away. I didn't know about the prisoners in the cellar; that was rather repulsive to think about." After that incident Draco had learned that his father knew of the prisoners in the cellar, but hadn't done anything about it, preferring to let Bellatrix think she was in charge until the end. Lucius claimed he did it for Harry, so that Bellatrix and the Dark Lord would be caught unaware when Harry came bursting through the door, owning the place. It made sense, but in the end Harry hadn't had the chance to take the fight to the Manor, which he was grateful for, because he didn't want to have to repair his family home from the damages of war.

"Yeah, Luna had only been there a few months, but Mr. Ollivander was there for some time."

"Look, about my aunt; I know it's awful that she lost everyone, but I really do want to know what she plans to do with that baby and it does matter whether I know sooner or later. Have you thought about it that she won't have milk to last forever? Who's going to feed that baby? It's gonna end up being me, I know it and that's not a problem really, because I've got extra milk stored up that she can have. And Scorpius and Hyperion are moving onto solid foods and won't need so much milk, so there will be enough to go around, but I don't want to get attached to another baby if she's not going to give him to us. If I'm gonna wind up being the father, fine, but if I'm more like the uncle the kid sees every other weekend, I don't want to get hurt and Teddy can have his milk out of a breast pump, same as Hyperion. So find out what the plan is and if there isn't a plan, make one."

"Oh, um, I hadn't even thought of that. I'll talk to her," Harry promised, amazed by the fact that Draco was willing to give Teddy his milk, let alone take Teddy in and raise him like one of Draco's own.

"See that you do Malfoy," Draco said.

Sev decided he wasn't getting enough attention, so he smacked both of his little hands down onto the water, splashing Harry in the face. Both Sev and Scorpius laughed at that and Scorpius copied his brother, splashing Draco in the face. Harry and Draco smiled at their boys and finished up the bath. They rinsed the boys off and wrapped them in fluffy towels to dry them. Then it was time to dress the babies and Harry had to admit he had no idea how to put a cloth nappy on. Sev was wriggling all over the place and kept turning over and rolling away.

"The key with Sev is to do everything quickly, before he gets away," Draco said, swooping in and quickly fastening the nappy into place.

Harry looked over and noticed that Scorpius didn't roll away and although Scorpius kicked his right leg and flailed his arms, Scorpius mostly lay still and let Draco dress him. Harry wanted to trade babies, but then Harry remembered Scorpius screaming at him when Harry first arrived and thought better of it. Thus Harry grabbed the onesie and tried to make do, dressing the squirming Sev.

Draco left Harry to struggle with the clothes, taking Scorpius to the bedroom to breastfeed. While he was at it, he changed the collection bottles on the breast pump and ordered a house elf to prepare a bottle for Sev. Then he put the breast pump away, because he was embarrassed of what Harry would think if he knew Draco had turned into such a dairy cow; not that Harry had noticed yet, but it was bound to happen sooner or later and he was fine with it happening later.

Harry finally finished the snaps on Sev's pajamas and went looking for Draco. The door right next to the nursery was open and Harry found his husband inside, sitting on a large bed and breast feeding Scorpius. He was very curious about this, wondering everything from how Draco made milk without boobs to what Draco's chest looked like without the baby attached. But he didn't want to broach the subject or get caught staring, so he tried to concentrate his eyes on Sev.

"There's a bottle on the desk for Hyperion. You two can join me on the bed," Draco offered.

Harry seized the suggestion, quickly getting the bottle and sitting down next to Draco on the bed. Sev didn't have much patience for him to get comfortable and was already grabbing at the bottle and squealing before Harry even sat down.

"Draco, how often do the boys get up during the night?" Harry asked. Now that it was late and he was clearly in Draco's bedroom, he was starting to wonder about tonight. This was their first night back together and he was certain to be able to get sex out of Draco; they were married after all and hadn't had sex since their honeymoon. But if the boys were up every few hours, he didn't know how that would work.

"Once, but mother told me she would cover it tonight, so we can sleep in."

"Good. I have been up for two days now."

"That long? I'll let you sleep in when I get up in the morning, but you never did tell me the details regarding what happened with the war," Draco said.

And so Harry started to tell Draco what happened, but only got a few sentences in before Draco stopped him and summoned a quill, parchment, writing desk and a pot of ink for Harry and said, "Write it down while you talk, that way I'll have notes for the interview tomorrow; that is if you still want me to give it. I don't remember you giving my father the okay to or not, but if you don't want to talk to the reporters, then someone should or else they'll make up stuff."

"Yeah, you can talk to them. I'm really exhausted, but I'll write it down for you," Harry said, trying to figure out how to hold a quill and a baby at the same time.

"Here," Draco said and sat Sev down on the bed between them and took over holding the bottle.

"One baby is hard to juggle; two babies seems like a lot to me; I don't know how you've managed," Harry said.

"It's not that hard once you get used to it. Take feedings for example; getting them both nursing at the same time was tricky at first, but I had help and then I managed fine on my own. It was hard again when I had to stop nursing Sev and start giving him bottles, but he could sit up by that point, so I just sat him on my lap and gave him the bottle with one hand, and held onto Scorpius with the other."

"Sounds like you really might be able to manage with three babies. I was just thinking that it'd be impossible."

"Without help, yes, but I've got my family and now I've got you.

Now that Harry's arms were free, he began to tell Draco the details of his story and write out the basics. He got mixed up a few times in his delirium, but he eventually got the jist of it straight. Scorpius and Sev finished eating long before Harry finished his story, so Draco set Scorpius on the bed next to Sev and gave the boys a few toys to entertain themselves. And since Draco's hands were free, he took over the writing part for Harry, because it was slowing Harry down.

Scorpius started dropping off first, blinking his eyes and yawning, but Sev wasn't far behind. Draco stopped Harry to put the boys to bed in the nursery. They had to be quiet, because Teddy was already sleeping in a basinet in the nursery, although Andy wasn't there and was probably still downstairs with Narcissa. Harry watched over Draco's shoulder as Draco laid the boys down, sang them a lullaby, and spelled on a nightlight.

"I normally cast monitoring charms too, so that I know when they wake up, but mother will handle that tonight," Draco whispered, before leading Harry back to the bedroom and then to the en suit bathroom; partly because he wanted a bath and partly because he didn't know when the last time Harry had had one was and he had no desire to share a bed with someone who was filthy.

Harry noticed that this bathroom was similar to the one in the nursery, only with the addition of a urinal and sink. There was still no toilet, but then they were Peverell wizards, so they didn't need one. The tub was a fancy clawed foot affair, but wasn't the giant Hogwarts variety tub, so they barely fit and Draco had to sit in Harry's lap. While they bathed, Harry finished telling Draco his account of the war and since Draco didn't bring the parchment into the bath, Draco was trying to remember it all.

While Draco was concentrating on Harry's words and cleaning himself, Harry was ogling Draco's body. He was very appreciative of Draco's flat stomach that looked like it had never even been pregnant. The only sign of the pregnancy was Draco's breasts, which looked plumped up and fuller and Draco's nipples, which were grotesquely long; Harry imagined they got that way from constantly having a baby suck on them. Once he finished the part about how it was Voldemort's own killing curse that back fired on Him, Harry reached out and stroked Draco's left nipple, because he couldn't take his curiosity any longer. He was surprised to see milk squirt out and Draco flinch.

"Ow, no touching me there until I stop breast feeding, yeah? It's bad enough they get sucked on all day; I don't need you messing with them too."

"Sorry," Harry said, pulling his hand back.

Draco was silent then and since Harry was done washing himself and was horny, Harry took over the washcloth from his husband, rubbing the soap all over Draco's soft flesh. His cock was hard and pressing into Draco's back and he hoped Draco was hard too, because he could really use some release of his sexual frustration right about now. Trapped in a small tent with Hermione for months on end did not lend itself to sexual gratification, even of the self-induced type. But when his hand reached lower, he found Draco to be soft.

Draco pulled Harry's hand away from his bits and said, "Don't."

"What's wrong?"

"I don't know how you can even think about that when Professor Snape just died; and eaten by a snake! I've seen Nagini eat people and I can imagine the horror," Draco answered, shivering in horror as he thought about it.

Harry hadn't thought about how hearing the details of Snape's death would affect Draco. It was part of what had happened and Harry had relayed it and that was it. Now he wished he had thought more of how Draco would react to hearing it. "I'm sorry. I know he meant a lot to you; I lost a lot of people in this war too," Harry said, wrapping his arms around Draco.

Draco allowed Harry to hold him and the two of them stayed like that in the tub until the water grew cold. Harry cast a warming spell, but the two of them were done anyway, so they got out and dried off.

Harry decided that he wouldn't ask Draco again for sex tonight, but then when they were putting on pants and pajama bottoms, Draco passed Harry a shrunken sex basket, saying only, "Here, I took this from the school for you."

That act really sent Harry mixed signals, because he thought it meant Draco wanted sex after all, which was more than alright with him. "Thanks," Harry said, unshrinking the basket. He got out and unshrunk the applicators and the conditioning and soothing potions, but didn't think he'd need the stretching one again. He was just reaching for one of the vials of contraceptive potion when Draco stopped him.

"What do you think you're doing Malfoy?"

"Um, is this the wrong one? I thought the orange one was next; I already took the red one last year."

"Those are yearlong contraceptives and you're supposed to be carrying my baby by the end of the year," Draco said, taking the orange vial out of Harry's hand and putting it back in the rack.

"But you don't want to get pregnant tonight, right? I mean I just got back from the war and it's too soon. I assumed we'd wait a few years after having the boys."

"I assumed you'd be pregnant next year."

"Ah, I was hoping to go into Auror training in the fall. Well I hadn't planned on it, because of course that depended on the war ending, but, yeah."

"Oi, you can't start Auror training in the fall; I expect you to be pregnant in the fall."

"That soon? I thought you'd want to wait a while, especially if we have Teddy."

"Well if you want to put it off until later, I don't see how you'd possibly be able to have a career with the Aurors."

"What do you mean? I thought we agreed that you'd stay home with the kids until they were five."

"Well if you wait ten years to have our daughter, I'm not staying home for fifteen years."

"Okay, not ten, but maybe three."

"Still, even if it's only three, you'll be home breast feeding so long that there wouldn't even be any point in starting."

"Huh? Isn't it just one year to have the baby and another year to stay home breast feeding?"

"Is that what muggles do?"

"Sometimes. Normally they don't bother staying home at all and give the baby formula."

"Well our babies won't be fed muggle food; it's bad enough Scorpius drank two ounces of it when he was first born."

"Okay, but still, that only lasts a year, right?"

"What do muggles feed their babies after the first year? Cow's milk isn't safe until the age of three."

"Three? You mean witches breast feed for three years?"  
"Yes. It's not so much work after the first year, because of the solid food in the diet."

"Muggles give children cow's milk after the first year. I thought that you were only going to breast feed for the one year."

"No, I was going to do the full three with the twins and finish off the last two years with our daughter, so that you could start Auror training in two years. But if you aren't going to be pregnant next year, then I'm not going to be breast feeding forever and you'll just have to do the three years yourself."

"Yeah, alright, I'll get pregnant in this coming year then."

"Not too soon though; I want to finish my NEWTs before our daughter's born."

"Yeah, sure thing." When Harry had agreed to carrying the next baby, he never thought it would come this soon. Truthfully he had never thought it would go this far and now he was wondering if he could get out of it somehow. But if he put it off, Draco would expect him to breast feed for three years and he didn't want to do it at all. On the other hand, if he got hold of a few contraceptive potions, he might be able to fool Draco into believing he was infertile as a carrier and then Draco would do all the child baring. Thus he reached back for the contraceptive potion in the rack and said, "So I'll just take this now and get pregnant when it wears off."

"If you take that, you won't be pregnant for at least a year. There are other contraceptives you can use; ones with shorter terms," Draco replied, vanishing the rack with all the contraceptive potions before Harry could grab the orange one again; he didn't want Harry accidentally taking one and getting out of carrying their child.

"Do you have one ready that we could use tonight?"

"No and we're not having sex tonight Harry; I already told you why. You can look up a contraceptive potion or spell tomorrow; it's not like you have anything else to do while I go for the interview." Draco didn't particularly care if Harry had an accident and got pregnant a few months early, because he had already started reading the material for his history of magic NEWT, which was the most important one.

"Okay. I did want to visit the Weasleys tomorrow and see George, but I can try to look something up before I go. But then why'd you give me the sex basket?" Harry asked confused.

"So you could use the conditioning potion, which has to be used in advance. I doubt you've used it in the last year, so do it now and then you'll be ready for whenever we do have sex."

"Yeah, okay," Harry said, filling an applicator with the conditioning potion.

"We need to put these up in the closet; I don't want my mother and father to see them," Draco said before calling a house elf to do it for him.

While Draco was ordering the house elf around, Harry went to the loo and added the conditioning potion. Then Harry was back and they climbed into bed together.

"What do you need to see the Weasleys for?" Draco asked snuggling into Harry's side.

"Fred died and I'd like to see George and Molly; the whole family really."

"Even after what Ron Weasley did to Scorpius? You know he can barely move that leg, right?"

"I won't take the babies with me and I'm not going for Ron, although I did hex him really good and we've sort of come to terms with it. But no, I didn't know about the leg. How bad is it?"

"Sev just started crawling, but he's been getting up on his hands and knees for months now; Scorpius has never gotten up on his hands and knees. Sev has been rolling over since the age of three months, while Scorpius has never rolled over; he sits up and that's about it. He kicks all over the place with his right leg, but he barely moves the left one. He likes to suck on the toes of his right foot, but he can't get the left one into his mouth."

"When do you want to take him to St. Mungo's? We need to see if they can fix it."

"I'll make an appointment and get it done as soon as possible. Father is going with me tomorrow and we need to stop by our lawyer's office and the Ministry. I'm not sure if we'll have a chance to swing by St. Mungo's or not; we'll probably be gone half the day at least and I was counting on you staying here and helping Mother with the boys, Aunt Andy, Teddy, and Grandmother Druella."

"Alright, I'll put my visit off until the day after tomorrow; I'll send Molly an owl. I know she wanted to see the babies, but I won't bring them."

"I have some pictures you could take to show her, but if Hermione's there, there is something I'd like you to ask her."

"What?"

"The muggles that saved Scorpius' life; I'd like to give them a thank you gift. We didn't have muggle money to pay them with at the time and they didn't even ask for money; they just saved him and sent us the bill. That's part of why Father needs to visit our family lawyer, because he needs to arrange payment on that bill. But even after we pay our bill, I'd still like to thank them and I don't know what muggles like, so if you could ask Hermione what would be an appropriate gift, I'd appreciate it."

"Yeah, I'll ask her," Harry said yawning.

After that Draco started thinking about his old head of house and how much he would miss Professor Snape. Then he remembered Harry's description of the professor's death and cringed in horror. He had tried to keep himself together all day for the boys, but now the boys were asleep and he couldn't help but sob into Harry's chest as he remembered his mentor and his protector.

Harry noticed Draco's quiet sobbing and suddenly the grief he felt for Fred, Remus, and Tonks was overwhelming. He held Draco tightly and silent tears trickled down his face. The two of them fell asleep like that, comforting each other in their grief.

Draco wasn't asleep for long when the pain in his chest woke him up. He felt emotional pain at the loss of Professor Snape, but he also felt physical pain because he hadn't pumped in hours; he didn't want to do it in front of Harry. He silently crept out of bed, retrieved the breast pump from where he had hidden it, and put it on. He covered himself with his paternity robes, so that Harry wouldn't be able to see, and crawled back into bed, setting the pumping machine on the floor beside the bed.

Then Draco went to sleep for the night, knowing that the house elves would monitor the pump and replace the bottles as needed, like they did every night. They did it during the day too, but he still liked to change the bottles himself if he was thinking about it, so that he could pretend to himself that the house elves hadn't replaced the collection bottles untold numbers of times and he wasn't such the dairy cow that he thought he was. The elves had gotten bottle replacement down to the point where he didn't need to wake up in the middle of the night on those rare nights when his mother or father volunteered to get up with the babies. And during the day, he rarely even noticed the switch.

* * *

Author's Note: What do you think of Harry and Draco adopting Teddy? Up next will be Draco and Lucius' excursion into the wizarding world. Please Review!


	16. Chapter 16

Draco woke up at eight in the morning and got ready for his first day out of the house since he had brought Scorpius home from the muggle-hospital and his first trip into wizarding society since he left Hogwarts before getting married to Harry last year. He was quiet and let Harry sleep in and was even nice enough to cast a muffling charm on the walls. He put on a clean set of paternity robes and changed the collection bottles on the breast pump, using the one set of bottles he had that had a wizard-space charm placed on them, because he would be out of range of the villa's house elves. He slung the bag that stored the pumping machine over his shoulder and hoped that no one would notice or say anything about it.

Mother, Father, and Grandmother Druella were up with all three boys having breakfast and Draco joined them. Scorpius and Severus were in their high chairs, while Teddy was lying in a cradle near Mother; Aunt Andy and Harry were the only people missing. Scorpius reached out for Draco, so Draco picked Scorpius up and sat him in his lap while he ate. Scorpius started rooting around like he was looking for something to latch onto, so Draco temporally removed one side of the breast pump to let him have a drink.

"I gave Hyperion a bottle already, but Scorpius wasn't hungry yet and refused it," Narcissa said.

"Alright. Thank you mother," Draco replied.

As breakfast proceeded, Draco noticed that there was obvious tension between his mother and grandmother, but when he asked his mother if she'd be alright without him, she assured him that Grandmother Druella promised to be on her best behavior and that he wouldn't come home to a Black family war; they wouldn't even wake the Savior upstairs.

Scorpius finished suckling and Draco put him back into his highchair, before putting back on the breast pump and fixing his robes. When Draco finished eating, he kissed his boys goodbye, told them to be good for their grandmother, and then he and Lucius flooed first to their meeting with their lawyer.

They had a lot of things to cover, such as the paperwork for Draco's marriage and the births of his two children. Most of the paperwork that had already been prepared was good to go, but there were a few minor changes, like changing the name of his first born to Severus Hyperion instead of Hyperion Draco.

Next on the list of matters to discuss was the muggle hospital which had treated Scorpius. Lucius handed over the muggle bill and the lawyer did the calculation to figure out how many hundreds of galleons it worked out to. They discussed transferring the money over from their Gringotts account, which the lawyer had to fill out a form for, and Lucius had to sign.

Then Lucius had business matters that needed to be dealt with; two years' worth of issues relating to the various Malfoy businesses and investments that needed attention. And then there was the little issue of Lucius' release from Azkaban, which the Order claimed to be an escape, but Lucius quiet clearly remembered being released free and clear and that would have to be dealt with. Lucius had to hand over his memories concerning that matter and several other crimes he was being accused of or had been accused of. The lawyer would copy the memories and present only the non-incriminating ones and his case for Lucius' complete innocence to the heads of the MLE and Auror departments.

Clearing Lucius of all wrong doing would require a successful campaign in the media, which was on their list of things to do for the day, but first they stopped by the Ministry, which was eerily empty, even for a Sunday. There were normally at least a few employees to receive paperwork. "My son-in-law defeats the Dark Lord and suddenly everyone takes the day off?" Lucius asked a bit too loudly. But then the huge cavernousness atrium was all but empty, so his voice carried.

"Did you come to turn yourself in Lord Malfoy?" the Auror working security at the Ministry asked.

"Why no, why would I turn myself in? I was at home while my husband was slaying the Dark Lord; surely you don't think I did it?" Draco asked.

"That's right, innit? Your title got stripped and the pipsqueak is the new Lord Malfoy, eh?" the Auror asked.

"That's Lord Malfoy and Husband of the Chosen One to you," Draco said.

"What _are_ you talking about?"

"I'm here to file the paperwork; I married Harry Malfoy last year, before I went into hiding. Now if you could direct us to whoever is on duty and available to file my paperwork."

"No one's on duty; we just survived a bloody war, didn't we? Everyone's taking a day off while the new regime figures out who's in charge."

"Well my husband just got back from saving all our arses, so I think the least you can do is call in a clerk, to process these documents for him."

"What are you playing at? Harry Potter would never marry you."

"Oh, but he would and he has. If I have to get him out of bed after he's been up killing the Dark Lord for two straight days and nine months on the run, well I think whoever is in charge might be a bit upset about that."

"Let me see those then."

Draco handed over a copy of the marriage certificate and said, "Careful, that's the Savior of the Wizarding World's marriage certificate. I'd hate to see what happens to your job if you damage it."

"This is a fake! A forgery, it has to be."

"Draco, I'll have to add slander of your good name to my list of complaints regarding the Ministry; Harry's too," Lucius said, speaking up for the first time and pulling out a copy of the morning's addition of the Daily Prophet. The special evening addition issue from last night had proclaimed victory by Harry Malfoy, thanks to Lucius' owl informing the paper of the name change with attached copy of the marriage certificate for proof. But the story had already been written before he owled and all the editors had done was change the name and add in a sentence that Harry had married Draco and taken his name. The morning addition, on the other hand, contained all of the limited information Lucius had included in his owl. And whereas the picture last night was one of Harry in the middle of a battle, the one this morning was Harry and Draco's wedding photo, taken last year, which Lucius was nice enough to send along with his owl.

"Right, well I'll just call in someone to receive these papers and see about verifying them. I suspect you'll need Harry Potter's conformation that these are authentic before they can be filed into public record." The Auror couldn't believe that Harry Potter would marry a Death Eater, so he figured the paper was a hoax designed as an intricate ploy by the Malfoys for some nefarious plot they were hatching, which seemed to involve trapping Harry Potter into a fake marriage.

"Harry Malfoy; he took my last name," Draco said, pulling out one of his forms. "See, this form right here says so and it's signed Harry Potter, henceforth Harry Malfoy dated last year on our wedding day."

"Well please wait while I contact someone who can help you with this matter Lord Malfoy. As for your father, I'm afraid I'll have to take him in."

"If you take in the father-in-law of the Savior, how do you think that's gonna look in the papers? I've an interview with the Prophet right now, where I plan on telling them about all the things my father was doing behind the scenes to help Harry Malfoy win. For example, did you know Harry was captured by snatchers and taken to Bellatrix Lestrange? If it weren't for the fact that my father gave the Dark Lord use of our Manor and that that was where Bella was, Harry would've been up a creek without a wand. As it was, our house elves let him go."

"Alright, well I don't even know who's in charge now anyway, so I'll let Mr. Malfoy go as long as he agrees to come in for questioning when we're ready for him."

"My lawyer is already putting together a summary of events for just such a date," Lucius said.

The Auror nodded and told Draco and Lucius to take a seat, while he firecalled in for assistance. It was another fifteen minutes, but finally Kingsley Shacklebolt himself came through the floo, followed by an administrator. Kingsley, who had heard from Ron and Hermione that Harry had married Draco Malfoy and had two kids in secret, wasted no time in greeting Draco and congratulating him on his wedding and the births of his sons. There was some polite chatter while the administrator went through the paperwork, checking to make sure everything was in order.

Kingsley assured Draco that everyone was eternally grateful to Harry Malfoy for everything Harry had done. Draco took the opportunity to say that the Ministry could start showing it by clearing his father of all charges, paying Harry for the nine months he spent working twenty-four hours a day defeating the Dark Lord, and giving Draco and Professor Snape Order of Merlins for their efforts, including arranging for Harry to be smuggled Draco's own wand and the Sword of Gryffindor, which were needed to defeat the Dark Lord.

Kingsley said he'd see what he could do about those requests and the administrator said that everything appeared to be in order and that he would get right on filing everything. After that Draco and Lucius grabbed something to eat before heading to their next stop: the Daily Prophet.

Draco gave an interview that painted himself, his father, and his mother in a glowing light. He played up the positives, played down the negatives, and emphasized their role in the war. He even emphasized Harry's role in the war, which was very hard to do, because Harry had almost been the entire war effort in and of himself. In Draco's account, the entire war came down to Harry, Severus Snape, the Malfoy family, a band of Malfoy house elves, Hermione Granger, and Neville Longbottom, in that order, with Hermione and Neville playing minor roles. Ron didn't even merit a mention, which was something that even the muggles who had saved Scorpius' life had gotten.

Finally Draco handed over a family photo of himself with the boys and promised to get them an updated photo with Harry in it, just as soon as he got around to it and was contingent on the Prophet painting the Malfoy family in the right light.

Then they stopped by the Quibbler and Witch Weekly to talk about arranging interviews. And finally they made a stop by a wizarding pet store, before going home in time for a late lunch. Lucius was still full from earlier, but Draco had to eat a lot these days to keep up with all the calories he burned breast feeding.

Harry woke up an hour or so before Draco came home and was surprised to find Andy and her mother Druella having a pleasant conversation on the patio with Narcissa and all three boys. They had a cradle outside for Teddy, a play-mat for Scorpius, and Sev was rolling around in a walker, wearing cute little baby shoes so that he didn't hurt his feet on the pavement.

Harry didn't know how Narcissa had arranged the reconciliation between her mother and her sister, but he was grateful she had. He ate lunch out on the patio and then got to hold Scorpius for the first time. He was just thinking that Scorpius ought to have a one syllable nickname like his brother Sev and wondering if anyone would mind if he called his son Scorp, when Draco got home.

"You're mum said to bring Scorpius in to see you; she said he wasn't happy with any of the bottles," Harry said, coming into the dining room with Scorpius, where Draco was eating lunch.

"Well then what did she feed him?" Draco asked, taking Scorpius and preparing to breast feed him, but first he had to take the pump off on one side. He had nowhere else to put it, so he left it on the table. The collection bottle was empty, which meant the house elves had already changed it out.

"Something green, judging by the inside of his ears." Harry tried not to be too nosy about Draco's breast feeding thing, but he was rather shocked to see the thing come out of nowhere. It seemed to be connected to the bag Draco always had on his shoulder these days. Harry had thought it was just a nappy bag, but now he wondered if the bag was part of the breast pump. If that was the case, then that meant Draco might just be breast pumping a lot more often than he thought.

Draco looked into Scorpius's ear and noticed the green smear. Then he looked up Scorpius' nose and found more evidence of the baby's lunch. "Yes it would seem so. I do wonder if he got any of it in his mouth."

"Well he wasn't crying, so he must've, right?"

"If it were Hyperion, absolutely, but I'm not so sure about Scorpius. We're normally careful to make sure he doesn't miss a meal, because he's so small and when we're late with the food, he doesn't always complain. Do me a favor and ask mother how much milk he had."

Harry agreed and went outside to ask Narcissa. Then he went back to the dining room and told Draco, "She said Scorp drank half the bottle last night and then woke up a second time and finished it, but he only drank half of the bottle at lunch time. He didn't want it, so she gave him extra crackers and fed him an entire dish of green beans."

Draco hadn't left the house since December, so he rarely had occasion to give Scorpius a bottle and this was the first time Scorpius had indicated a problem with taking one. "Good, then he wasn't starved, but I'll have to be careful not to leave him too long, in case he refuses the bottle again." Draco ate a few bites of food, before he realized what Harry had called his son and asked, "Scorp?"

"Yeah, I thought I'd give him a nickname, if it's alright with you. I mean, Sev has a nickname and Scorpius needs one too."

"Yeah, it's fine. I kinda like it."

"Great! How'd it go when you were out?" Harry was wondering if there was a lot of chaos on the streets in the aftermath of the war. He imagined the Aurors would be out in full force tracking down Death Eaters and the remaining Death Eaters just might do the type of thing Bellatrix had done to Neville's parents. He really hoped there wouldn't be any post-war horror stories this time around, because the war was horrible enough.

"Good. I got Hyperion a snake," Draco said, indicating the cardboard box he'd brought home. It was sitting on the floor by the doorway

"Why? I know you're a Slytherin, but I don't think a snake is a good pet for a baby."

"I think Sev might be a parselmouth and I've been dying to know if he can talk to snakes. But now that you're here, you can tell me what he's saying."

"Why do you think that? What do you think he's saying?"

"He makes a lot of hissing sounds, especially when he sees pictures of snakes. He has a snake toy that he's always hissing at."

"Oh."

"So can you go get him and try talking to him in parseltongue?"

"No, I can't speak it anymore."

"Since when?"

"Ever since I woke up after having the part of Voldemort inside me killed; it came from him, that's why I could speak it. I don't think it's something I could pass on to Sev, because it wasn't ever something that was truly mine to pass on."

"There was a parselmouth in my family a couple hundred years back, so it could've come from me. Or maybe it came from me and was activated by you. It doesn't really matter why our son is talking to snakes, just that he is, yeah?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Of course I'm right, I'm a Malfoy; we always are. Do you want to talk about how you feel about losing your ability to talk to snakes?"

"No, it's not really a big deal. Why?" Harry thought Draco worded the question oddly and was wondering what Draco was trying to get at.

"I told Mother you weren't a girl and didn't need to talk about feelings, but at breakfast she kept mentioning that you must have a lot of them after the war. She seems to think that as your husband I ought to bring it up.

"Um, I do have feelings, but no, I don't really want to talk about them. What is it with women and always talking about feelings?"

"I don't know; must be a female thing. I'll pass the message to Mother along, but if she asks, please tell her I tried. You know mothers; they like to nag," Draco said.

Harry didn't in fact know mothers, but he didn't want to get into that or his feelings on that either, so he just nodded.

When Harry didn't say anything, Draco asked, "Why don't you go get Sev and show him the snake I bought? You're still good with snakes, aren't you?"

"I guess I'm about to find out. I'll go get Sev from your mum then."

Harry went outside and told Narcissa about Draco's snake. Narcissa, Druella, and Andy all wanted to see what happened with Sev and his first snake and then Lucius came out and wanted to see too, so they asked Harry to bring Draco and the snake outside, instead of bringing Sev inside.

Harry went back inside and since Draco was almost done eating and Scorpius was done nursing, Draco agreed to come outside with the snake. Draco gave Scorpius to Harry and waited until Harry was walking back to the patio before reattaching the breast pump and grabbing the box with the snake.

Harry sat down with Scorpius next to Narcissa, who was holding Sev. Scorpius started reaching out for Narcissa and grunting, so Harry switched babies with her. Now Narcissa had Scorpius and Harry had Sev.

On the patio in front of the trellises of grape vines, Draco took the snake out of the box and showed Sev for the first time. Sev shrieked a very loud hissing noise and lunged in Harry's arms for the snake. Harry almost dropped Sev, because he wasn't expecting the sudden movement, but thankfully he didn't. The snake too seemed to respond to Sev, turning its head to face the blond baby and staring right at Sev, flicking its tongue in and out.

"I think it's safe to say that Parseltongue didn't die yesterday," Lucius said.

"It still might be a bit soon for that; we don't even know what he said," Harry said, feeling out of the loop now that he didn't understand snakes. He hadn't missed the ability to talk to snakes, but now that he thought his oldest son was probably a parselmouth, he was starting to.

"Nonsense; it doesn't matter what he said, just which language it was in," Narcissa said.

"It has been generations since a Malfoy has had a parseltongue in the family; it's an honor to have another one," Lucius said.

The family celebrated Sev and his snake, everyone watching eagerly for what the baby and the snake would do next. Sev, for his part, made several more hissing noises at the snake and the snake slithered around the patio harmlessly. Then it was nap time and Draco put Sev and Scorpius down in their cribs, before taking a nap himself in his bedroom.

Andy and Narcissa watched Teddy, so Harry took the moment alone to send an owl to Hermione letting her know that he was still with Draco and how everything was going. Then he sent another owl to Molly and let her know that he would stop by tomorrow after breakfast and stay through lunch. And since he had nothing else to do, he wrote notes to Luna, Neville, Dean, and Seamus, just to see how they were doing after the war and letting his friends know that he was safe and happy with his family.

After nap time, the extended family had dinner together, which was composed of steak, shrimp, rice, and green beans; all foods they hadn't had access to in hiding. The dining room was filled with happy chatter about Sev's gift and there was none of the awkward tension from that morning.

After dinner the family gathered in the drawing room and Harry asked Andy if she would go outside on the patio for a chat with him. Andy agreed and followed him outside. They started off talking about Tonks and how great she was. There was a bit in there about Remus too, but mostly they both said how much they missed Tonks. And then Harry got down to the heart of why he wanted to talk to Andy, which was Teddy.

"Listen, I don't want to take Teddy away from you, but I am the godfather and I'd like to discuss what's going to happen to him. Draco said he's fine with having Teddy around or even us adopting him; he just wants to know what's going on," Harry said.

"I don't think I could let Teddy go right now; not after losing my Dora. Draco's a great young man, better than my sister Cissy that's for sure. Don't get me wrong, I love my sister, but it's hard to believe Draco turned out so well given the type of things Cissy and her husband and my dear old mother taught him. Anyway, I just want to say that I hold nothing against Draco and I'd love it if the two of you were part of Teddy's life. It's even been Draco's milk Cissy has been giving to me for Teddy all day. If it weren't for Draco's generosity, I wouldn't know what to feed the little guy right now, so I really do owe him a debt of gratitude," Andy said.

Harry and Andy sat out on the patio discussing plans for Teddy and reminiscing over Tonks for an hour more. They eventually came up with the plan to split Teddy's time equally between the two of them. Andy wanted Harry and Draco to play a big role in Teddy's life, so that he would still feel like he had parents and Harry wanted Andy to still have plenty of time with her grandson.

Then Harry told Andy of his encounter with her late husband Ted before he died. Andy had already known the basic facts surrounding her husband's death and she was glad to have an account of Ted's last hours running from snatchers. Harry would've stayed out there talking with Andy all evening, but Draco called to him and asked if Harry wanted a part in bath time. Harry agreed and went upstairs with Draco and the boys for another bath in which Harry got so wet he might as well have gotten in the water himself.

They got the boys dressed and Draco took Scorpius into his room to breast feed while Harry was still struggling with Sev, just like the day before. Putting on the nappy took Harry many tries, because Draco didn't help him with it this time. Still, he had seen the process done several times that day and it was time he gave it a go on his own. The first several tries Sev moved too fast and foiled Harry's attempts and when Harry did finally get the nappy fastened, it wasn't on right. It was too loose and Sev's penis was hanging out the side. Sev rolled over and was trying to scoot away, so Harry pulled the baby back and flipped him onto his back again, saying, "Stay still; Daddy doesn't want to stick you with one of the pins."

"Da da da da da da," Sev said and smacked the glasses off of Harry's face.

The baby was once again on his stomach and scooching away slowly when Harry got his glasses on and went in for yet another attempt. Harry got Sev back onto his back and unfastened one side, tightened it up, pushing the penis all the way inside, and then reinserted the safety pin. There were a few more attempts, before he finally got the other side tightened. He was getting a hang of getting the clothes on a moving baby, so once the nappy was on, the pajamas went on quickly.

When Harry finally got the last of the snaps done up, he went into Draco's room and found Draco sitting on his bed with Scorpius. There were two stuffed toys on the foot of the bed, one in the shape of a snake and another one in the shape of a scorpion and both toys had a rattle on the end.

Draco indicated the bottle of milk on the desk for Sev and Harry grabbed it, before sitting down on the bed next to Draco and Scorpius, while he fed Sev.

"I talked to your aunt; we agreed to share Teddy fifty-fifty," Harry said.

"You did, huh?" Draco asked, but he didn't sound happy about that at all.

"Um, didn't you want me to talk to her?"

"Yeah, and I wanted the two of you to come to a proper decision, not some wishy-washy do-gooder peace-on-Earth dragon dung decision."

"I thought you said you were willing to take Teddy in as your own? Were you just saying that, because you thought it wouldn't come to that?"

"No, I said I'd take him in as my own, if my aunt gave him to us, not shared him with us. I'm stilling willing to do it if she's willing to give him up, but I thought I explained to you that I wasn't willing to share him like a couple of divorcees. I haven't gotten divorced, so I shouldn't be made to suffer for it. I knew you were the Savior and liable to bring home stray kneazles who tried to scratch your eyeballs out and I can totally see how I should have expected you to come back home from war with an orphan, but I'm not just gonna sit back and let my heart get broken when my aunt wants her grandson back."

"Oh. Okay, I'll talk to her again. Kneazles?"

"Well honestly I thought it would by that house elf you love that you'd bring home, but he used to be my house elf anyway and it wouldn't be so bad to pay the wages of an elf we don't really need. I didn't think it'd be a stray human."

Harry didn't think he'd given Draco any reason to think he was going to bring Dobby home. "How did you come to that conclusion?"

"I had a chat with mother before I married you, when she was still considering the marriage contract. She wanted to make sure the marriage would last, which she thought would only happen if I accepted you for who you are, with all your flaws. We started talking about your relationship with Dobby."

"What did she say?"

"She pointed out that you were the self-sacrificing hero type and asked if I was really willing to put up with that. And then you're always fawning all over that elf, telling him thank you and then eating it up when he says what a good and noble wizard you are. I put the two together."

"So you're saying that before we even got married, you realized that your future husband would be bringing home strays and you decided you were okay with it and married me anyway?"

"Yeah, that's why I included that bit in my wedding vows, to show you that I was okay with it. But don't go getting any ideas: I'm allowing you one orphan, one elf, one kneazle or crup, and one abraxan, but after your one of each type of stray, there will be no more. Next time someone turns up on our doorstop with an orphan, I'm going to tell you no, because we already have an orphan, so you better think long and hard about it and make sure that he's the orphan you want."

"What about you? Do you want him?"

"I wouldn't mind."

"Even though he's not a pureblood and his father was a werewolf?"

"It's not about what his parents were, so much as what Teddy is and is not. As long as Teddy _isn't_ a werewolf and as long as he _is_ a metamorphmagus, then I don't see the problem."

"What does being a metamorphmagus have to do with anything?"

"Don't you remember what I told you about purebloods back when we first got together?"

"Er, not really."

"With most purebloods, lack of blood purity is forgiven with talent. That boy is clearly talented, so any purity he lacks will be forgiven now that the Dark Lord is gone."

"Alright, so you'd really be fine with taking him in?"

"As long as it's official, then yes."

"What would make it official? Andy's agreement?"

"If she signs a custody agreement, then that's a start, but if we're going through with this then we should be talking adoption."

"Oh." The thought of adoption hadn't even crossed Harry's mind yet.

"If he's gonna be one of our boys, then he needs to be just like our boys. His parents are dead and yeah, that's awful, but him being adopted isn't gonna change that. He'll still be Dora and Professor Lupin's only kid with whatever rights come from that, but he'd be a Malfoy too and all that entails. It'd give him another set of parents in addition to the set he lost, not in replace of them."

"Yeah, that makes sense. But isn't it a bit early to talk about adoption? You haven't even held him yet; how do you even know you want to adopt him?"

"Well if we don't want to adopt him, then we need to be upfront with my aunt about that now. I don't know the situation, but there might be another couple out there that would want him and take him in and love him like he was their own. I've seen enough to know that we could do that and that's why I suggested it. I was under the impression that that is what you wanted. I know my aunt loves him, but she's old. You were taken in after becoming an orphan, I saw the way you were with him, and I just assumed you wanted to do the same for him." Scorpius was done feeding, so Draco set him down on the bed on his tummy next to his brother. Then Draco put the breast pump back on and spelled the panel in the paternity robes closed.

"The family who took me in didn't love me and they didn't treat me like one of their own, like you're talking about doing." Harry noticed Draco doing something with the pumping machine again. He was getting rather curious about the process and was thinking about asking Draco about it.

"How can that be possible? Half the families in the wizarding world would've gladly taken you in and loved you."

"Well I wasn't in a wizarding family, now was I?"

"Weren't you with your muggle family? Are you telling me that your own family didn't want you?"

"Yes, they didn't want me. Dumbledore forced them into it, because my protection against Voldemort was only good as long as I lived in a house where my mother's blood ran, so it was the only place I was safe, alright?"

"Safe from everything but your mother's family it would seem."

Harry didn't answer that. Instead he focused on Sev who was trying to scoot across the bed to get the toys at the end while making hissing sounds.

"Look, your family seems really messed up, but my family's not like that. Sure we've got our own problems, but with us you're either in or you're out. You're all the way in and we'll do anything for you or you're all the way out and we'll let Dark Lords have you. Obviously my grandmother made a bad choice choosing Bella over Andy, but that doesn't really matter right now. What matters is whether or not you want your godson to be your son or whether you want him to be that kid you visit on weekends twice a month."

"Alright, tell me one thing you like about him." Harry didn't want to take Teddy away from Andy if Draco didn't really want him. He didn't want their new family to turn out like his old family and Teddy to turn into the next Harry. If that was the case, he thought Teddy would be better off with Andy.

"I like his blue eyes and the way Scorpius and you look at him. That's three." Teddy could change the color of the ring of iris closest to his pupils, but the rest of his eyes remained a constant blue. He would likely be able to change his entire iris, like Tonks could, when he got older, but the fact that they were blue now indicated that blue was probably Teddy's natural eye color.

Scorpius was reaching for the scorpion toy, so Draco grabbed both toys and gave them to the boys to play with on the bed. Sev took his snake and rolled over onto his back, grinning up at Harry, waving the snake toy, and hissing. Scorpius stayed on his belly and cried, so Draco helped him turn over and then Scorpius sat up to play with his toy.

"Wow, I didn't think you could really have anything…I mean I just met him and you seem to avoid him."

"Because I don't want to get my heart broken and I don't know where I stand with him."

"Point taken, I'll talk to Andy. This might take a while to discuss if we're talking adoption though."

"Well just don't expect me to get close to him until you've decided."

"Okay, let's talk about something else."

"Like what?"

"Like those toys: how'd you get them a scorpion and a snake, when you've been in hiding all this time?"

"We ordered a bunch of toys before we went into hiding. I knew I was going to name one of the boys Scorpius, so Mother ordered a scorpion toy specifically for him. As for the snake, it was one of many stuff animals Mother bought and Sev took a liking to it right away."

"That's good. I'm glad they have toys. So what are your plans for tomorrow?"

"I'm going to owl the Quibbler and Witch Weekly about setting up interviews. Do you want to go with me for any of the interviews, or stay home?"

"I'd rather stay home. You're not gonna do the interviews tomorrow, are you?"

"No, probably not. I might do the Quibbler tomorrow if they want me that early, but only because you said you wanted me to give one to them to match the Prophet and I already gave my interview to the Prophet."

"Oh, good."

"Why, what are your plans for tomorrow?"

"I'm going to the Weasley's, remember?"

"Yeah, sure. Just let me know what time you're going and when you'll be back."

"I told Molly and Hermione I'd get there around ten, stay for lunch, and I'll be back before dinner."

"Sounds good."

"But can you give me the secret so I can come back on my own?"

"I thought Father told you: Professor Snape was our secret keeper and now he's dead, so I can't get it for you."

"But you knew the secret, so now you're the secret keeper."

"Come again?"

"We went through this with headquarters after Dumbledore died: when the secret keeper dies, then everyone who knew the secret is now the keeper, so you can tell me."

"Oh, I didn't think it'd be that simple. I thought we were gonna have to find some way to break it or something."

"So can you give it to me then?"

"Yeah, just let me find a scrap of parchment," Draco said getting up.

When Draco stood up, Scorpius reached out for him with one hand and started clenching and unclenching his fist saying, "Fa fa fa fa."

"I'm not leaving you with him Scorpius, you can relax," Draco told the baby, going over to the desk and writing the secret down for Harry. He really didn't think it would be nearly this easy, even after Harry told him; he was a bit shocked that it worked. Now they could give the secret to his aunt and grandmother too. Grandmother Druella had been here at the villa for a year now, but Professor Snape hadn't given her the secret, for fear she might turn on them.

"How do you know that's what Scorp wants?"

"He calls me Fa and reaches out to me like that when he wants to be picked up," Draco said crawling back onto the bed and handing Harry the paper.

"Thanks," Harry said, taking the secret. He read it and then ripped it up. "I think it's best to keep the house under protection for now; at least until the stray Death Eaters are rounded up and caught."

"Yeah, sure."

"Elf!" Sev exclaimed all of a sudden and when Harry looked, there was an elf who appeared to be caught in the act of cleaning up Draco's desk. The scraps of paper he'd just had were gone and that was probably the elf too.

"Carry on Jingly," Draco told the elf, even though both boys were now holding out their hands to the elf like Scorpius had done minutes earlier for Draco.

"Eeeeeeeee," Scorpius squealed.

"Yes, elf," Draco agreed.

"Elf," Sev repeated.

"Does Sev always do everything before Scorp?"

"No, not everything, but you have to understand that Scorp was born underdeveloped and it was months before he was as big as Sev was when he was born."

"Okay. What's something Scorp's done first?"

"Called me Fa and screamed at you are two things that come to mind. Sev calls me by crying; he's trying to make me jealous of an elf, the subversive little thing."

"Sev, do you cry at your father when you want him?" Harry asked and the baby grinned back at him.

"See, that's practically an admission of guilt," Draco said.

"Oh I'm sure."

"Fa fa fa," Scorpius said, throwing the scorpion toy at Draco and reaching out for him with both hands.

"Yes my little man?" Draco asked, picking up the baby.

Scorpius lay his little head down on Draco's shoulder and said, "Fa."

"And he does that too, which means he wants to be put to bed. Sev will just stay up playing until he starts crying of exhaustion, but sometimes Scorp will actually ask to be put down," Draco said.

"Wow, that's really advanced. I'm sure he's brilliant, just like his brother."

"Oh, and sometimes when he wants a nappy change, he'll start babbling the N-sound, when Sev is perfectly happy to sit in his piss all day long. Come along, bed time," Draco said, standing up with Scorpius and walking to the door.

Harry followed after Draco with Sev and they put the babies to sleep in the nursery, performing one last set of nappy changes. Draco cast a monitoring charm, before they went back to Draco's bedroom.

Draco led them into the bath, like he did yesterday, except this time he was still wearing the pump and took it off in front of Harry. Harry watched, but didn't say anything. Like the day before, Harry was horny and didn't want to ruin his chance of sex tonight with Draco by talking about a sensitive subject.

Harry washed quickly and then started massaging Draco's back, while Draco was washing. He rubbed his hands over Draco's back, shoulders, neck, and then his stomach, avoiding Draco's tender chest area. Then he made a move for Draco's bits.

"Did you look up contraceptives today?" Draco asked, before turning around and pressing his lips to Harry's.

Harry deepened the kiss, but when they broke apart for air, he had to admit that he had not. "Um, I sort of slept all morning and barely woke up before you got home, so I didn't get a chance."

"Do you want to try to get pregnant right away then?"

"Er, no, not so soon. I'll look up a spell tomorrow, I promise." Harry knew he would see Hermione tomorrow and although he didn't want to talk to her about his sex life, he might just be willing to do so to ask for help with a contraceptive.

"So did you want to stick to wanking for tonight then?" Draco thought he would have time to look it up himself tomorrow if he really wanted to, but he didn't care that much. If it were important, he would've made Harry a birth control potion when he made his own long-term birth control potion. The only pregnancy that he thought really needed to be avoided was another one for himself, because he had no plans of ever being pregnant again.

"Yeah," Harry answered, before pressing his lips back to Draco's lips. They kissed for several minutes before Harry ventured his hand forth to Draco's bits again, which were still soft. "What's wrong?" Harry's prick was so achingly hard he didn't understand why Draco wasn't ready yet.

"I can't stop thinking that the boys are just in the next room and my parents and my grandmother and my aunt- Merlin my whole family- is in this house and might hear."

"We can cast a silencing charm."

"There's already a silencing charm up on this bathroom."

"Then why are you still worried?"

"I don't know, except that the charm might break or my parents might come in or something."

"Do you want to spend the night away from them, somewhere where we're alone?"

"Yeah, that should work, but not tonight."

"Are you sure? I'm pretty sure your parents would understand; we are married."

"Yeah, but Mother was up all last night and I assured her that she could sleep tonight and I wouldn't bother her. And Father normally helps out too, but he was telling me he wants to personally check in with all our businesses and properties tomorrow; well as many as he can at least and I think our lawyer wants to see him again. And we didn't get a chance to stop by St. Mungo's and make an appointment with a healer to see Scorpius, so he might do that tomorrow. Oh and we both need to get our apparition licenses and Father said he would make appointments for us as soon as the Ministry is back open."

"It's closed? I thought you and your father went there today?"

"We went there today and there was only one Auror on guard duty who threatened to arrest Father for being a Death Eater and I explained that we were married and I was there to file paperwork and he called this wizard named Kingsley Shacklebolt, who seemed to be in charge. When Kingsley arrived, he had an administrator with him who took our paperwork and promised to file it."

"Oh, poor guy. I can just imagine how stupid that Auror felt thinking that your father was a Death Eater and then finding out that we're married."

"He didn't want to believe me, despite the proof I had in my hands, but Kingsley said he knew Hermione and therefore knew that I was telling the truth."

"Yeah, they've met and he'd know to trust her when it came to something about me."

"Yeah, so Father has things to do tomorrow and won't be available to babysit. Give them until things calm down and then we can go away together for the night. Once Aunt Andy goes back to her house, we drop grandmother off at her place, and things settle down with Father, I'm sure they will be more than happy to babysit."

"What about your grandmum? Can she babysit?" Harry couldn't believe he was asking that, but Druella hadn't seemed at all the mean old racist witch today that she had portrayed yesterday and Harry was _really_ horny.

"No, she doesn't do nighttime. She's good for afternoon naps mostly; in the morning she's normally a bit loony, so don't leave her with the boys in the morning either."

"Is it the blood traitors in the morning?"

"No, last time it was the elves. If we were proper masters we would've cut one of their heads off to teach them their place. Often it's the doxies not infesting the place properly and we ought to transplant some of the Black family doxies from her place, because they know how to do it right."

"I had assumed Bellatrix was a one-off; you should've warned me that crazy runs in your family."

"You had already met my father, so I think you were adequately warned."

"Yes, you're right."

Draco pressed his lips back to Harry's and they kissed again. "Do you still love me?"

"Always."

There was more snogging, but they didn't take it any further than that and got out of the tub when the water turned cold. Harry went to the closet and got an applicator full of the conditioning potion, which he inserted before joining Draco at his dresser. This time when they were getting dressed for bed, Harry noticed Draco putting the machine back on and decided it was time to ask. "Is that how you pump milk for Sev?"

"Yeah."

"Do you do it a lot?"

"Yeah; I need to if I'm gonna make enough milk for Teddy too. I have some milk in storage, but with three babies it'll run out eventually, so I might as well start now."

"So how long do you need to do it before you go to sleep?"

"I'm gonna do it while I'm asleep," Draco answered, putting on a new set of paternity robes.

"You can sleep like that?"

"Yeah, once you get used to it. Honestly it's easier to leave the thing on and going; a lot of times I just forget about it."

"It still works when you're lying down? I mean, the milk doesn't like leak or anything?"

"No, it's charmed. A gravity charm keeps the milk going into the collection bottles and a leak-proof charm covers the rest."

"And it doesn't hurt you when you move in your sleep? What happens if you roll over?"

"The paternity robes have the wizard-space charm on them, so there's plenty of room for the pumps and when I turn over, pressure is never placed on that area. Anything else you want to know oh curious one or can we go to sleep now?"

"Sleep sounds good, but you'll let me know if I'm hurting you, right? I mean if I accidentally bump into you or something."

"It won't be a problem." With two babies, Draco got accidentally hit and kicked enough to know that no amount of bumping would hurt.

And then Draco crawled into bed and Harry followed him. Harry didn't want to hold Draco at first, because he was still worried he might hurt Draco, but then Draco grabbed Harry's arms and wrapped them around Draco's waist, snuggling in.

Draco woke up when the monitoring charm went off. Sev and Scorpius were up and fussing, so Draco picked them both up and took them over to the rocking chair, where he nursed Scorpius and fed Sev a bottle.

Harry woke up when Draco got out of bed. He was confused for a minute, but then he remembered that the boys would need feeding, so he went to the nursery. He thought Draco would need help, but when he looked in, he saw that Draco had it under control and was feeding both boys himself. He watched for a minute, but he was horny. He went back to Draco's bathroom and decided to have a wank.

When Harry was done, he cleaned up, and crawled back into bed to wait for Draco.

* * *

Author's Note: What do you think of having a little parselmouth in the family? Teddy of course is a metamorphmagus, I gave Scorpius the hyper sensitivity to magic thing, and I wanted to give Severus something too.

Up next Harry will visit the Weasleys.


	17. Chapter 17

Harry slept in again the next morning, if only for an hour. By the time he got up everyone else had already had breakfast. Draco and the twins were the only ones still in the dining room; Draco had the boys in their highchairs and was feeding them each a bowl of mashed green beans. Harry sat down and started on a piece of toast as he watched Draco alternate from feeding Scorpius a bite to prying the spoon away from Sev and giving Sev a bite, before letting Sev have the empty spoon to gnaw on once again.

"You're still going out today, correct?" Draco asked, feeding a bite to Scorpius again.

"Yeah," Harry answered.

"You know how to buy things with muggle money, yeah?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I'm running low on my muggle pills. Professor Snape used to get them for me, but now…"

"Yeah, I'll get them. What kind of pills? Like medicine?"

"The muggle-healer called them vitamins, calcium, and iron."

"Yeah, I know what those are; I can get you more, no problem. But when did you see a muggle-healer?"

"Before they let me take Scorpius home. They wanted proof that he really was mine and that my parents hadn't stolen him, so they made me come in."

"Merlin, do I need to get the Aurors out here to obliviate them?"

"No, I don't think so," Draco said, before telling Harry the story of his muggle-hospital visit and how he'd been about to obliviate Dr. Leroy, before everything had worked itself out. He had to admit to using a confundus charm on a muggle, but it was necessary, so Harry wasn't upset. Then Draco explained that the vitamins were supposed to be good for breast feeding, they made him feel better, and Professor Snape had confirmed that they weren't poisonous.

"Wow, I can't believe Draco Malfoy is taking muggle products regularly," Harry said when Draco finished his explanation.

"Don't go spreading it around. Anyway, I have the packaging it came in," Draco said before pulling out a plastic bag with a muggle drugstore logo on it.

Harry had been to this store before, so the errand shouldn't be a problem. He finished eating, dressed for the day, and came back downstairs to find Draco wiping green mush off of two little faces in the dining room. Harry kissed all three of his men goodbye and Draco handed Harry a packet of pictures to show Molly. Then Harry flooed over to the Burrow where Molly, Arthur, Ron, and Hermione were all waiting in the sitting room.

Harry hugged each of the Weasleys. They spoke first of their grief for Fred, Tonks, and Lupin, both their own and those of the people they care about, including Andy. Then Molly asked if Harry had eaten. He had, but agreed to some tea, so Molly headed into the kitchen to prepare it. Arthur followed her.

"How's it been staying with the Malfoys? Is Lucius treating you alright?" Hermione asked.

Harry proceeded to tell his friends about life with the Malfoys, including the fact that Lucius had been unusually nice to him, calling him son.

"You're really chumming it up with your father-in-law then?" Ron asked.

"Yeah. Well we haven't spent all that much time together, but he's been fine."

"Did you know Draco gave an interview to the Daily Prophet?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, yesterday. He said he'd handle the reporters for me."

"He did, did he? Did you read it?"

"No."

"Well, have a look," Ron said, passing the paper over to Harry.

The title was, "The Chosen One has Chosen," and the cover was a recent photo of Draco with a baby in each arm.

"That's a great picture," Harry said, only having eyes for his husband and sons.

"You might want to read it."

"Why? I trust Draco; I gave him the jist of the war and I'm sure he relayed it fine."

"What do you call claiming that Lucius gave that diary to Ginny in order to turn it over to the proper authorities for destruction? What about when he says that his family, including old Lucius, was never loyal to Voldemort? What about how he calls him the Dark Lord throughout the whole bloody thing? Merlin, he paints turning over their house to Voldemort as an act of planned sabotage!" Ron exclaimed.

"It really says all that?" Harry asked Hermione for confirmation.

"Well, yes Harry, it does. He paints Lucius as a misunderstood spy," Hermione answered.

"I guess I ought to read it then," Harry said and then actually read the article. When he finished, he had to conclude that it had a very Prophet-esque feel to it, only telling half of the story. While Harry was reading, Molly and Arthur came back into the room with a tea service and a platter of biscuits, which they set down and waited quietly for Harry to finish reading. "I'll talk to Draco."

"Good, see that you do," Ron said.

"Harry, dear, perhaps you can tell us about those boys of yours? What are their names again?" Molly asked, changing the subject.

"Scorpius and Severus Malfoy," Harry answered.

Ron gave a quick snort at the first name, but his jaw dropped at the second. "He named your kid after Snape?" Ron asked with evident horror.

"No, Draco named him Hyperion, but I suggested changing his name and Draco agreed."

"Blimey Harry," Ron said.

"Well I think it's wonderful. Congratulations Harry," Hermione said, giving Harry a hug, just to show Ron the proper way to be happy for a friend.

"Thanks Hermione."

"Maybe you could bring the boys over sometime? I understand how you feel about Ron being near them, but Ron can go out and then you, Draco, and your boys could come over," Molly suggested.

"I'll ask Draco. Oh that reminds me!" Harry exclaimed, pulling out the packet of pictures Draco had given him. "Draco sent pictures. I haven't seen them yet."

"Well open them dear!" Molly exclaimed and Hermione and Author chimed in their agreement.

Harry opened the package and the first picture in the pile was of an absolutely tiny baby with black hair and a large tube disappearing inside his mouth. The tube was taped to his face, obscuring his features. Hermione gasped in surprise when she saw the photo and Arthur and Molly each took in deep breaths.

"Oh, this must be Scorpius in the muggle hospital after he was born. Draco told me that it was Professor Snape's idea to take him to muggles for help and that Lucius and Narcissa were the ones who took him; they guarded him the entire time he was there."

"Oh my," Molly said. "That was certainly good thinking on Severus' part. How long was your son in the hospital?"

"A week. Draco wrote me when he finally brought him home. I was so scared the Death Eaters might catch onto them, but no one ever thought to look in French muggle hospitals."

"Yes, being on the continent certainly helped and it was absolutely ingenious to hide amongst the muggles. I'd love to know how that tube thing works," Arthur said.

"What's the next picture of Harry?" Hermione asked.

Harry shuffled the pictures, revealing the next photo in the line. It was of a tiny baby in an incubator and all of the machines that were hooked up to him. "Must be Scorpius again, but I can't see the face," Harry said.

Molly murmured, "What a poor dear."

Arthur made some comments on how fascinating the machines looked and Harry turned to the next photo.

Next three photos were of Lucius, Narcissa, and Draco, each holding Scorpius in the hospital. Then there was one of a group of muggle nurses and doctors, one of whom was holding baby Scorpius, who finally had the tubes removed.

"That was probably taken just before he was released from the hospital," Hermione chimed in. "They like to take pictures showing everyone who helped to save someone with the patient they saved."

Arthur again thought that was fascinating.

Harry turned to the next picture, which was of Professor Snape holding a very tiny Severus. He wasn't nearly as tiny as Scorpius, but he was still small and his face was so wrinkled that Harry wouldn't have recognized him, if not for the blond hair.

"Draco said that Professor Snape was taking care of Sev, while he recovered," Harry told them.

There were some murmurs of disbelief, especially at the smile that seemed so out of place on Professor Snape's face and the adoring way the pictured Snape looked at the baby in his arms, before looking back up and smiling again.

"It's a very nice photo dear. He clearly loves your son very much," Molly said.

"I think we all misjudged the man," Arthur said.

"He wasn't open and caring on the outside, but deep down he was a good person and he really cared. We all owe him a debt of gratitude," Hermione said.

"Yeah, we do," Harry agreed.

"Well the next one dear? What's the next one of?" Molly prompted.

The next photo showed Scorpius lying in his crib, pulling his right leg to his face and sucking on his little toes. The left leg stayed still the entire time and it was rather obvious from the photo that there was something wrong with it. It looked abnormally thin and the foot was turned in and it didn't move. Every other part of the baby moved, except for that leg.

"This is Scorpius again."

"What's wrong with his leg dear?" Molly asked.

"It's a birth defect. It's small and crooked and he can barely move it."

Hermione, Molly, and Arthur all expressed similar sentiments about how awful that was.

"Okay, I get it: I shouldn't've punched the ferret and it's my fault Harry's kid is crippled, but did he really have to send only photos that would point that out?" Ron complained, standing up.

"What did you want him to do? Hide Scorpius away in the closet and only take pictures of Sev?" Harry asked incredulously, standing up to face Ron.

"He could've put a blanket over that leg before taking the pictures!"

"We're not going to be ashamed of our son, just because he only has one functional leg Ron! Don't take what you did out on Draco; he didn't ask for it. If it wasn't for Professor Snape, Lucius, and Narcissa, you'd be a murderer right now Ron."

"Fine, I'll just go," Ron said, slamming the front door on his way out.

"Give him a chance to cool off and see if he realizes on his own that that was uncalled for," Arthur said.

"He's just mad that Draco didn't mention his name in the article," Hermione said.

"Didn't he? I hadn't noticed," Harry said, making a mental note to reread the article. "Are there any more pictures dear?" Molly asked, changing the subject.

There were more pictures, so Harry revealed the next one, which must've been taken recently, judging by the size of the boys. They were both in contraptions that held the boys upright and displayed toys in front of them. Sev was bouncing his contraption up and down quite rapidly and Scorpius was barely moving his with his one leg.

"Harry, I think Draco might be trying to send you a message with these pictures," Hermione said.

"That he doesn't like Ron? Yeah, I kinda figured that one out," Harry replied.

"I don't blame him dear; I'm not too fond of my son right now myself," Molly said. "I wish Ron was still small enough that I could drag him over my knee and spank him."

"If you did, could you take a picture of it for me? I think Draco might open up to you more if he saw that," Harry replied.

"He's a good lad; you're really lucky to have him Harry. I can't imagine what would've happened if Draco hadn't the presence of mind to go into hiding," Molly said.

"And it was good thinking on Severus' part to get the little one to the muggles," Arthur added.

Harry thanked Mrs. Weasley and then remembered Draco's request, so he asked Hermione what gifts would be appropriate for the doctors who saved Scorpius' life. Hermione suggested flowers and coffee mugs, but Harry had the feeling Draco wanted a more substantial gift. Hermione was stumped, but promised to look into it for him. After that the elder Weasley went into the kitchen to check on lunch, leaving Harry and Hermione alone.

"Listen Hermione, I need your help with something, but this has to stay between us, alright?" Harry asked.

"Yes, of course," Hermione replied. "What is it?"

"I need your help finding birth control. Either a potion or a spell, but some form of contraceptive, and not the yearlong stuff they give out at the school."

"Why? Is Draco allergic to one of the ingredients?"

"No and it's for me: he wants me to get pregnant within the next year, so he wants me to find something that'll work short term."

"You don't sound too thrilled about that."

"I'm not. I was considering finding something short term to show Draco, but really taking something long term. It'd be pretty brilliant if I couldn't get pregnant and Draco had to do it again."

"Harry! That hardly sounds fair to Draco!"

"Yeah; please don't tell him I said that."

"Alright, but only if you agree to talk to him about this. Why does he want you to carry the next baby? Did he have some problem carrying the twins? What if something went wrong and he can't get pregnant again? You might be shooting yourself in the foot by taking a potion like that and then neither of you would be able to get pregnant."

"He didn't tell me anything went wrong on his end. And we agreed it would be me next ages ago."

"Harry! You agreed and you want to back out without telling him? Why would you do that?"

"I had to in order to convince him to marry me. It's in our bloody marriage contract and I thought he only wanted that in there to appease his mum, because Narcissa expected Draco to be manlier or something."

"Harry, I won't help you with this until after you talk to Draco. Tell him how you feel."

"Hermione, we're guys, we don't talk about our feelings."

"Have you tried?"

"Yeah, as a matter of fact, we gave it a go last night." Then Harry went into a recount of the emotionally stunted talk about feelings Draco had initiated.

"Boys; you're hopeless. You need to at least try to talk to him about this. Maybe you can do something for him in exchange, like agree to change all of the dirty nappies. If he loves you, he'll understand."

"Alright, fine, I'll talk to him. But could you at least help me with a short term contraceptive?"

"Well…um, I sort of know a…um, a spell," Hermione admitted blushing.

"Brilliant."

And so Hermione taught Harry a one-time contraceptive charm that had to be cast each and every time the user had sex in order to be effective. The charm wasn't too complicated, so by the time Bill and Fleur came through the door, Harry thought he might just be proficient at it enough to get it right.

Bill called out to his brothers and Charlie and Percy came downstairs with a red-eyed George in between them. Then Ginny flooed in from wherever she'd been completing the set, except for Ron. The group of young adults spent some time catching up before lunch. After lunch, Charlie suggested a game of quidditch to cheer George up, so Harry, Ginny, and the remaining four Weasley boys went outside for a game, leaving Hermione and Fleur to talk to Molly and Arthur. The match did end up cheering George up a bit and everyone went back inside in slightly higher spirits. Then Harry remembered that he had an errand to run before he could go home and he didn't want to be late for dinner.

"Listen guys, I've got to get going, but I wanted to thank you for letting me come over and to tell you again how truly sorry I am about Fred," Harry said.

"Where are you taking off too already? Can't you stay a bit longer?" Ginny asked.

"No, I've an errand to run for Draco and I've got to stop by Gringotts first."

"You just got home and already the ball and chain has you running errands?" George teased.

Harry explained the nature of his errand to general amazement by the Weasleys.

"A Malfoy taking muggle pills? I never would've believed it," Bill said.

"I 'oold. Draco 'oold do anything for hiz babeez," Fleur said.

Harry really did need to get going, so he started saying goodbye again. But then George said, "We can't have the Savior of the Wizarding World out alone in Diagon Alley: you'll get mobbed! I'll go with you."

Hermione too insisted on going, so the three of them flooed to the joke shop in Diagon Alley. Harry did get noticed and his invisibility cloak turned out to be necessary for him to get through Diagon Alley. He only took his cloak off when he was making the withdrawal from Gringotts. Afterwards it was decided that the muggle world should be much safer for Harry, so George went home and Harry and Hermione continued on by side-along to the drugstore.

For the first time in what felt like ages, Harry found himself in a muggle store. He and Hermione picked out the proper supplements and paid. Hermione apparated them back to the Weasleys and Harry flooed from there back to the villa.

When Harry got home, he found most of the family gathered in the drawing room. Andy was absent, as was Lucius, but everyone else was there. Teddy was in a basinet and the twins were in the bouncing contraptions that Harry had seen in the picture. Sev was bouncing away merrily and Harry did a double-take when he saw that so was Scorpius. He examined Scorpius a bit more closely and realized that the baby was indeed only using his right leg, but the toy was still bouncing away.

"Draco, here are your vitamins," Harry said, handing the shopping bag over.

"Thanks Harry," Draco replied, giving Harry a chaste kiss.

"Where are your aunt and your dad?"

"Aunt Andy is taking a nap. My father is still away on his errands."

"Okay." Harry settled down onto the sofa with Draco, but he couldn't take his eyes off of Scorpius bouncing away and he began to wonder if all of those pictures Draco had sent him emphasizing Scorpius' deformity were exaggerations picked to make Ron look bad. "Um, Draco, does Scorpius always bounce away like that?"

"No, not at first, but then Mother cast an antigravity charm on that one, so that it'd move easier. Just make sure you don't put Sev in his, or he'll bounce right up to the moon. Everything is color coded: Scorpius is green and Sev is blue," Draco answered.

"Oh, okay, that makes sense." Now Harry was starting to feel bad about thinking badly of Draco. "So what did you do all day?"

"I owled St. Mungos and set up an appointment for Scorpius and set interview appointments with Witch Weekly and the Quibbler as well. The Prophet owled me a couple of times asking for more details on Professor Snape and for pictures of him, so I sent back a rather lengthy reply and a few photos I had."

"Great. When's Scorpius' appointment?"

"Not for another two weeks. Apparently they're dealing with a high case load from the last battle."

"Two weeks will come soon enough. What about the interviews?"

"Later this week. Witch Weekly tomorrow and the Quibbler the day after."

"Um, can I talk to you about the interview you gave yesterday?"

Draco agreed, so they went out onto the patio to have some privacy.

"I didn't like the way you portrayed your dad. He wasn't completely innocent and he had malicious intentions when he gave Ginny Voldemort's diary. Ginny almost died!"

"I'm sorry about that. She's alright now, right?"

"Yeah, she's fine, but I don't want people thinking your father was some secret spy all along when it was only in the last year he switched sides."

"Alright, I'll try to paint a more realistic vision of him in the next interview. But Harry, he's my father and legally he could still be prosecuted for many of his actions when he was loyal to the Dark Lord. I need to paint him in a positive light, or he could end up back in Azkaban. Without my father running our business matters, I won't be able to stay home with our boys, not to mention what having a father in Azkaban will do for my future political career! And Father did a lot to help your side this past year. If it were me, I wouldn't have left Aunt Bella in the Manor thinking she owned the place! I would've kicked her and the Dark Lord out, but Father left them there as a trap. You have to admit it came in handy when you escaped from the Manor."

"Yeah, he has helped and I'll testify in his favor if it ever comes to that. I don't want him to get locked up, for your sake, but I also don't want to hear you praising him for what he did to Ginny."

"Duly noted. I know he's not perfect, but Father has always done what he felt was best for our family. It took him until I wrote that letter, but once I did, he jumped ships immediately and has been trying to help you whole heartedly ever since."

"Yeah, I'm actually starting to think that he's a decent guy; he must've been hiding it under all that blood purity rubbish."

"Speaking of blood purity, my father said that today he was going to instruct our lawyer to draft paperwork re-instating my aunt and my late cousin into the Black family. It should help start an appropriate tend for other pureblood families to follow."

"That's great. Yeah, I'll sign it, definitely."

"Good, then let's go back into the drawing room; I worry about Mother being left alone with three babies and an old lady," Draco said, leading Harry back into the house. Harry chuckled at that.

Harry spent some time with the babies then, playing with Sev and Scorp and then feeding Teddy. He was down on the floor showing Teddy to Scorp, when the younger baby started grunting and then produced the most awful smell.

"Um, I think Teddy needs a nappy change," Harry announced.

"I'll show you where the wipes and stuff are, but I'm not changing him," Draco said, standing up from the sofa.

They walked into the nursery and over to the changing table. They didn't want to wake Andy, who was sleeping on the spare bed, so they cast a muffling charm on themselves. Draco laid out the supplies for Harry, before stepping back and busying himself with picking the night's pajamas on the other side of the room. Harry went to work wiping the poo off of Teddy's bum and a house elf appeared to take the soiled nappy and wipes, vanishing with the stink. Harry did a pretty good job cleaning Teddy up, but he wasn't comfortable sticking a pin so close to a newborn's skin.

"Draco, could you, um, show me how to put his nappy on?" Harry asked quietly, not sure if the muffling charm would extend across the room.

"It's the same process as with Sev," Draco whispered, coming over to Harry.

"I know, but Teddy is so small and all curled up and I'm worried that I'll hurt him. I cleaned him up, but could you please, just this once, show me how you do a newborn nappy?"

"Yeah, I guess." Draco stepped forward and positioned the nappy underneath the tiny bum and pulled down the legs to get the front into place. "Ah! What is that?" Draco asked, taken by surprise.

"What? Did I miss some?"

"No, but I thought this was a boy."

"He is a boy."

"Then where are the bits? All he has is a tiny misshapen lump."

"That _is_ the penis and ballocks. That's what regular boys look like; the non-Peverell kind."

"Ew. You mean he's gonna continue to poop forever? We can't just make an appointment for him at St. Mungo's?" Draco asked incredulously.

"Yep."

"I can't believe I've got a non-Peverell wizard in my family. With all the pooping, it's no wonder the Dark Lord managed to convince so many people to abandon the halfbloods."

"What? Yesterday you said that Teddy's magical ability made his blood pure enough. Are you taking that back, just because he's not a Peverell?"

"No, I'm saying that you're gonna have to change all those poopy nappies, not me. Girls poop and we don't kick them out of the family."

"Wait, what's gonna happen if we have a daughter? Are you gonna refuse to change her nappies too?"

"Just the poopy ones."

That reminded Harry of what Hermione had said about offering to change nappies in exchange for Draco carrying the next baby. He was just trying to figure out how to bring it up, when Narcissa called them down for dinner.

"We can talk about this more later," Harry said, picking Teddy up.

And so they went downstairs and joined the rest of the family, including a newly returned Lucius, in the dining room. Narcissa informed Draco that Scorpius had refused the bottle again, so Draco nursed him while he ate.

The dinner table conversation was mostly filled with Lucius' retelling of how his various errands had gone and which errands still had to be done. There was the stop at their Lawyer's office, visiting their various businesses, checking in on things and setting up meetings with his managers. Lucius promised to book Harry and Draco appointments for their apparition tests, because he had to stop by the Ministry tomorrow anyway; his lawyer had informed him that he had a meeting with the Aurors. It wouldn't end Lucius' legal problems, nor would he likely be sent off to Azkaban, but it was to be the start of a dialog in which he would have to account for his actions and prove that he'd turned over a new leaf in order to maintain his freedom.

When Lucius finished talking, Narcissa asked Harry about his day. Harry said his visit with the Weasleys went well, leaving out the disagreement he'd had with Ron, and instead focusing on how he practically got mobbed in Diagon Ally on his way to Gringotts. Draco laughed and Lucius insisted that Harry was going to have to travel with back up for the time being, in case he was mobbed again. Harry thought he could handle himself and mentioned his invisibility cloak, which Lucius didn't think was good enough. But when Lucius started talking of hiring a body guard, Harry put his foot down and refused.

After dinner, Narcissa watched the sleeping Teddy, while Draco and Harry took the twins upstairs to talk. They put the boys on the bed and sat on either side of the boys.

"So what did you want to talk about?" Draco asked, handing the boys each a toy he'd just summoned.

"I don't know what it is with girls and feelings, but Hermione made me promise I'd talk to you about mine."

"Oh? So my mother was right and you _do_ have feelings."

"Yeah, but not about the war. Well sorta about the war, but mostly about getting pregnant. I'm still on war mode and it seems like I've still got dark wizards after me, horcruxes to find, and Voldemort to defeat. We've already got three babies and I just don't feel like having another one right now. I know you said you want to wait a few months first, but I don't know if I'll be ready that soon," Harry admitted in a quick rambling manner. This was a big confession for him and he let out a large breath of relief.

"Alright, if you feel that way, we can put it off. Just know that the longer you wait, the less I'll be helping and the more you'll be doing on your own. I can give you two years, but if our daughter isn't born by then, you'll have to take off time from work and if it takes you more than five years, you'll have to stay home with her for five years, because I need a chance to have a career too."

"Alright, I'll keep that in mind. I think having a baby in two years sounds a lot more doable than having one next year."

"Good. Is that all of your feelings, or do you have more?" His mother always had more than one feeling when she felt the desire to force him to listen to them, but Draco was desperately hoping Harry wasn't that emotional.

"Well I do have one more…"

"Just spit it out; it can't be that bad and then we won't talk about feeling again until the next war."

"Okay, yeah, but I don't think you'll like it. You see, um, yeah, er, I um don't feel comfortable um when I think about it, you know, being _me_ pregnant. When it was you, I could protect you, hide you away and stand guard, or lead them away from you." Harry paused for a minute while he figured out what to say next. "But if it's me and um, someone comes after me again, and given my history that tends to happen annually, then it'll be harder for me to protect myself when I'm pregnant. Maybe it's because I'm still in war mode, but until I feel safe and I'm sure no one is gonna come after me and attack me…well I'd just prefer it if you were pregnant and I could concentrate on protecting you, like I did last time."

"I hope no one comes after you ever again; I want you to feel safe, Harry. I don't want anything to happen to you while you're pregnant either, but even with me, sometimes things happen. Just look at Scorpius."

"Yeah, I know you got attacked too, but that won't happen next time. Everyone will know you're pregnant, we'll only let people we trust in the house, you won't have to go to school, and Ron definitely will _not_ be invited over."

"We can do the same for you: you can stay in the house for the entire pregnancy, although I can't imagine you wanting that."

"I don't; I'd go stir crazy and wouldn't be able to stand it…. Hermione had a suggestion for a compromise. She said I should offer to do something for you, to make your life easier, in exchange for you having the baby in my place. Like, I could change all the dirty nappies or something. Would you be willing to compromise like that? It doesn't have to be nappies; it could be whatever you wanted."

"Harry," Draco said and waited until Harry was looking him in the eyes before continuing, "I already took a contraceptive potion; a long-term contraceptive potion. I won't be able to get pregnant again. I thought I was done having babies and that we'd agreed it would be you next time. So either it's you or it doesn't happen. I really would like a daughter though."

"Oh…I had no idea you'd done that," Harry said feeling sheepish. It seemed Hermione was right. He'd almost done the same and then they'd both be infertile. "Is there a potion you can take to reverse it?"

"No, it's permanent for the next thirty years."

"Then it'll really have to be me or no little girl at all?" Harry asked. Now that he faced the possibility of it not happening, he suddenly realized how much he _did_ want a little girl. Draco had been talking about it like it was reality for so long that he felt like he was losing his little girl by not wanting to get pregnant.

"I'm afraid so. But you know Harry, I never saw myself as pregnant either. I always thought it'd be my husband, but then once I was, it felt right. There's something about pregnancy hormones that make having a baby and being pregnant suddenly sound like a _really_ good idea. Personally I think the little parasites are slipping something into our blood that alters brain function, but it doesn't matter why it happens, just that it happens. So all this worry you're feeling, it'll probably go away the moment you actually get pregnant," Draco said.

In the months since having the babies, the pregnancy hormones had receded and Draco began to realize how much his thoughts and feeling had been influenced by them. What little reading he'd on the subject suggested that Peverell pregnancy hormones were more intense than the garden variety, being reinforced by magic and centaur pheromones, designed to keep the parents together so that the pregnant partner could draw magic from the other parent. He hadn't known it was happening at the time, but now that it wasn't happening, the difference was glaring him in the face. He seriously wondered if his entire relationship was based on overactive pregnancy hormones pushing him to be with the father of his children, or if their love was real.

"Really? Now that you're no longer pregnant, do you feel differently?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, I do. Don't get me wrong, I love our boys and I'm happy with our marriage, but it definitely _feels_ different. When you touch me, it's just a touch. Before, back when I was pregnant, you would touch me and it felt like magic; like just a bit of euphoria with every touch. Did you ever feel it?" Professor Snape had informed him that it was in fact a magic transfusion that was needed to maintain the healthy pregnancy, which was why Draco had been so exhausted when separated from Harry.

"No, I don't think so. When I touch you now, Draco, it feels just as good as it did when I touched you before."

"But you don't seem at all sensitive to magic, so maybe it was there and you couldn't feel it. I'm curious to see whether the feeling comes back when you're pregnant. That's, er, one of the reasons why I wanted you to get pregnant right away, so that I could feel it again."

"Oh. It would be nice to see if I can feel it."

"Are you still scared about being pregnant, even after we've talked about it?"

"Yeah."

"Well let's wait three months and then see how you feel. I don't want you to get pregnant before you're ready."

"Thank you," Harry said and leaned in, over the boys, and kissed Draco. Well really he was only over Scorpius, because Sev had scooted himself further down the bed.

* * *

Author's Note: For those of you who were wondering why Draco seems cold or distant, I hope this chapter helped explain it, as well as why Draco warmed up to Harry so fast. It wasn't responsible for all of Draco's feelings, but it is hard for him to fall back into his groove with Harry when that anchor is gone. I've had several reviewers state that the draw of mates seen in many creature fics is absent in this story and that has never been true. In my experience, it is very difficult to realize you're being manipulated while it's happening, so I didn't have Draco consciously notice it until now; it's only hindsight that is 20/20.


	18. Chapter 18

Lucius had a number of legal matters to tend to Tuesday, including his much anticipated first meeting with Aurors. And since Lucius was going to the Ministry to speak to the Aurors and the Aurors had also owled Harry asking him to come in, Harry ended up going with his father-in-law.

Narcissa had gotten Andy invited over the Rosier's place for afternoon tea, so the women were looking forward to that. Druella would stay behind to help out with the babies, but this was a big day for Andy and signaled her return to pureblood society. Andy of course wasn't too eager to be let back in, but it was the principal of the thing and would help set a trend that would hopefully lead to fewer purebloods being kicked out of their families for marrying muggleborns, which would reduce muggleborn prejudice. Plus the Rosiers were family on her mother's side, so one of the women who would be there was her cousin and the other was her other cousin's wife, and she did want to catch up with them. And now that Narcissa knew that she was one of the secret keepers, she was able to give Andy the secret, making it infinitely easier for the women to go on little outings like this.

Draco just hoped that everything would go alright at the Ministry and that Harry and his father would be home in time for him to leave for his scheduled interview with Witch Weekly later. He hated to be late, but then given who he was and what he had to say and show, he was certain that the reporter would still be willing to talk to him if he was late or even a no show. But there was no way he could go before they came home, because he couldn't leave the three babies when only Grandmother Druella would be home; his mother's tea started two hours before the interview.

Lucius and Harry flooed over to the Malfoy lawyer's office, to collect Lucius' lawyer, and then to the Ministry. Given the chance to talk to Harry, the Aurors of course pushed Lucius' scheduled interview back and made him wait for Harry to speak to the Aurors first. Harry spent several hours going over the details of the war, including the roles Draco, Lucius, Snape, and Mrs. Goyle had played and how they had helped him. A lot of it they had already gathered from Ron and Hermione, but still they wanted to hear it from Harry.

Finally, just shy of three hours later, the lead Auror informed Harry that the questioning was over for now, but that Harry may need to come back in at a later date or even after they finished talking to Lucius, to answer more questions. And so Lucius and Lucius' lawyer went into his interview and the surprise was that one of the Aurors led Harry over to the apparition licensing division to take his apparition test. Harry passed and was back in the Auror department long before Lucius was done. Some of the Aurors were Order members, who Harry recognized and chatted with. The others all wanted to meet him and get his autograph.

Harry was very grateful when Gawain Robards, head of the Auror department, interceded on his behalf, saying, "Don't you all have dark wizards and Death Eaters to track down? Get back to work. Harry, please come into my office for a chat."

Harry followed Robards to a large corner office with several charmed windows. "Harry. Harry Malfoy, is it?" Robards asked.

"Yes, um, I married Draco last year."

"Then that makes you the new Mr. Lord Malfoy, to the young Draco's Lord Malfoy. Or do you prefer Savior Malfoy, like the papers are calling you?"

"I prefer Harry."

"Of course you do; they tell me you're a modest one. And two children too, is that right? You have quite the budding young family," Robards said.

"Yes sir."

"Well Mr. Malfoy, I have been informed of your intentions to join the Aurors and I asked you in here today to inform you that you already have. Our new Minister of Magic, Minister Shacklebolt, has informed me that as of nine months ago on the date of your seventeenth birthday, you are to be considered an Auror with full benefits making Top Auror pay, same as me. Seems only fair, doesn't it, after you did more than I did to end the war?"

"Um, I can't really judge that sir; I don't know what you did to end the war."

"Nor does anyone else, that's the problem. But no matter, I'm to train you up and get you working for us properly. You have a month's paid vacation first, of course; you deserve it after nine months of working twenty-four hours a day on the run. You'll be paid for that too, all nine months with time and a half for the extra sixteen hours in the day; full-time is considered only eight hours mind you. I figure Kingsley wants to repay you for saving all our arses this way instead of the typical lump sum reward, but I certainly don't mind if it gets me the world's greatest Auror on my staff."

"Um sir, how can I start in a month when training doesn't start until the fall?"

"Good question Auror Malfoy. You see we've had so many fatalities with the war that we're having a special training session starting up early, July first to be exact. We'd all be honored if you'd be there. Weasley and Granger are welcome as well. They'll both be paid introductory Auror salary for the time they put in with you, as your field team, according to the paperwork. Full benefits and a month paid vacation for them too. No need to apply for the job; they need only show up and they're in, same as you."

"Oh…"

"You don't sound too thrilled about that. Did you change your mind? I know you haven't completed your NEWTs yet, but they've been waved. There'll just be the standard training courses and then maybe an extra class or two on any subject you're weak in, but it'll all be paid for by the Ministry."

"Um, that's good. But what I'm concerned about is that I won't be ready so soon. I've just gotten home and met my twins for the first time. There's a lot going on at home that I need to get settled first," Harry said, because of the chance he may be pregnant by then; of course he didn't tell Robards that, since he was still just starting to think about the idea himself. "I might show up for the regular fall training session, but I can't make any guarantees. I was thinking of taking the next year or two off, but I promise I'll be in when I'm ready."

"I can give you the month with full pay and an additional six months of time off without pay, in which you still get to keep your benefits, such as life insurance and health insurance. The health insurance covers your spouse and children as well."

"That's great! My son Scorpius has an appointment at St. Mungo's in two weeks, will it cover that?" The news of his benefits was a great relief to Harry, because he had no idea how much it would cost to fix that leg.

"Yes. Is there something wrong with the little guy?"

"Yes, he's got a birth defect; a crippled leg we were hoping they could fix."

"Oh, the poor dear; I do hope they can set it right. I doubt you've taken him in to the hospital before this, but if you, your husband, or your children have been to the hospital or to see a healer in the last nine months, that would be covered too. Even if you've already paid it, our health insurance will reimburse you for it."

"Severus Snape covered all Draco's medical care while pregnant, so that he didn't have to go in. But actually, Scorpius has been to a hospital before. He almost died at birth, but the Malfoys apparated him to a muggle hospital in France, because they didn't think it'd be safe to try a wizarding hospital. The muggles saved him and he stayed there for a week. I've seen the bill for it and it's quite a lot."

"Severus Snape's care probably counts as seeing a midwife. If you get a list of the dates and amount of time Draco was seen and for what, then a check can be made out to the late Professor's estate. I'm not sure if our insurance covers muggle hospitals, but let me call my secretary and have her figure it out for you. Hold on just a minute," Robards said, before calling a young brunette witch in and ordering her to do just that.

"Yes sir," the secretary agreed before bustling out efficiently.

"I'll owl you with whatever she finds," Robards said, turning back to Harry. "If it's covered, you can owl her a copy of the bill and I'll see to it that she submits the proper paperwork."

"Thank you sir. And I'll ask my mother-in-law if she can help me put together a list of Snape's care."

"Do you have any more questions about your benefits, or would you like me to explain the training process?"

"Um, I'd like to hear about the training process."

Robards gave Harry a manual with the outline for the Auror training program, along with several much smaller booklets with information regarding the program and a set of books to study for first year Auror test, just in case he was bored and wanted to look ahead. It was all for Harry to keep, provided he promised not to let anyone else, especially his father-in-law, read.

While Harry was talking to Robards, Lucius was explaining to Aurors Savage and Proudfoot how he was completely innocent of all wrong doing. Pre-incarceration in Azkaban, he was a spy for the Order, helping Severus Snape gather intelligence on the Dark Lord. No one but Snape and Dumbledore knew, and they were both dead, so his story couldn't be proven false beyond a shadow of a doubt. Besides, he had been pardoned by Minister for Magic Pius Thicknesse for all those crimes anyway, so however you looked at it, he was off the hook.

Upon his release from Azkaban, Lucius really was on Harry's side and he had plenty of evidence to that effect from this past year, including taking care of Draco, Scorpius, and Severus, who were Harry's family; he may have mentioned how he saved Severus' life a few too many times, but really one couldn't mention something like that enough. And then there was Lucius' actual release from Azkaban to deal with. If Lucius escaped, he would be sent back. But since he was released and even had release papers signed by corrupt Ministry officials and a full pardon signed by Pius Thicknesse, he would probably get away with it.

"Look, how many times do I have to say it? Ministry officials came to my cell and ordered the dementors to let me out. Aurors Le Feuvre and Dawlish were there; granted Le Feuvre was a spy for the Dark Lord and Dawlish was converted to His service, but they were there nonetheless. They let me out and took me to the Dark Lord. I went to my home, Malfoy Manor, were I procured my old wand. Then I received an owl from my son, so I deserted the Dark Lord and waited for further contact. There was no escape," Lucius said for probably the hundredth time.

Apparently the answer to Lucius' question was several more times, because the Aurors asked him again. It was well passed lunch time when they finally let him go, advising him that they would be in touch to further discuss these matters. Lucius and his lawyer found Harry in the Auror lunchroom enjoying a lunch that had been provided to him by the head of the Auror department, while listening to tales of crime fighting first hand from the surviving Aurors. Lucius wasted no time in collecting Harry, before returning to the villa.

Once Harry was dropped off, Lucius went back to his lawyer's office to discuss how the meeting with the Aurors had gone. After that the two of them would head to the Manor to do a damage assessment. The lawyer was going, in case there was anything that needed to be turned over to the Aurors that was left behind. There probably would be, given that the Dark Lord and the Lestranges had never made it back to the Manor; Lucius fully expected to have to call the Aurors into the Manor by the end of the day, but first he wanted to sift through the belongings of the deceased himself, to make sure there wasn't anything he wanted. Plus he needed to hide all of the Malfoy family's darker heirlooms from grubby Auror hands.

Harry arrived to find Narcissa and Andy already gone off to their tea. Druella was supposed to be around, but Draco was alone with all three boys. Scorpius was sitting up on the floor in front of a house elf, holding onto the elf's hand. Sev was on the other side of the elf, on his hands and knees, pulling at the pillow case the elf wore. Teddy was in Draco's arms, while Draco fed the baby a bottle. This was only the second time Harry had seen Draco hold Teddy and he had to admit that he liked what he saw; Draco was good with the baby and seemed to be much more attached than Draco had been the day before.

Harry took a seat next to Draco and asked, "How's it going?"

"Great. The boys love Mipsy," Draco said, indicating the elf.

"Elf!" Sev shouted.

The elf turned around and asked, "Yes Master Severus, sir? How is Mipsy helping the little Master, sir?"

"Elf!" Sev repeated.

Scorpius pulled on Mipsy's hand again and said, "Eeeeeeeffff."

"Yes Master Scorpius, sir? How is Mipsy helping Master Scorpius sir?" Mipsy asked, turning her head back around.

"I can see," Harry acknowledged. "Should I intervene?"

"Only if you want to get cried at."

"Okay."

"I'm glad you're back, because I've that interview with Witch Weekly soon."

"You're leaving me with all three kids? I don't think I can even handle two, let alone three!"

"I won't be gone nearly as long as you were and Grandmother Druella agreed to help you; she's in her room doing old people stuff."

"Could I take them to the Burrow and ask Molly and Hermione to help me?"

"No."

"Could I ask either of them over here to help?"

"Hermione is welcome. Do you want me to leave you the secret?" Draco asked as he put down the bottle, which disappeared, and began to burp Teddy. They were really giving the secret out all over the place now; first Harry, then Aunt Andy and Grandmother Druella, and now Hermione too.

"Yes please. I hope she's available on such short notice."

Harry took Teddy from Draco, so that Draco could get up. Harry burped Teddy, while Draco wrote down the address to the villa for Hermione.

When Draco finished, he said, "Now this is for Hermione's eyes only, not any of the Weasleys, especially Ronald Weasley. After she reads it, I want you to destroy it. Eat it if you have to, but don't let Weasleys into our home."

Draco handed Harry the slip of parchment, which Harry tucked inside his robes, before resuming his patting of Teddy's tiny back. While Harry was taking care of Teddy, Draco rescued Mipsy, by picking up the twins, and taking them over to the sofa where Harry sat with Teddy. He asked Mipsy for a bottle, who supplied one almost instantaneously. Draco gave the bottle to Sev, dismissed the elf, and began to nurse Scorpius.

"I need to firecall Hermione and ask if she can come over," Harry said.

"Sure, just set Teddy in the bouncer and he'll be fine," Draco said.

"Okay." Harry got up to put Teddy into the bouncer with the green sea turtles, which was in the middle of the floor next to the bouncer with the blue sea turtles.

"Not that one; that's Scorpius' and he still uses it. Remember, Scorp is green? Put him in Sev's; Sev hasn't sat still long enough to use his in a month."

"Oh, alright," Harry said, putting Teddy into the blue chair. "Why's it matter?"

"A lot of Scorp's things are charmed especially for him and his leg. It's easier to keep their things separate than to remember what's charmed with which spell."

"Yeah, okay." That made sense to Harry, especially because Harry had no idea what was charmed, so he might as well go along with Draco's color separation scheme. "Is there a reason Scorp is green? Are you trying to turn him into a Slytherin?" Harry teased.

"Blue and green are standard boy colors. By the time I woke up after the birth, Professor Snape was already using the blue things for Sev and it stuck."

"Oh," Harry said, suddenly reminded of Professor Snape's sacrifice again. He took a deep breath and went to the fireplace to floo Hermione.

Harry hadn't bothered to turn the bouncer on and Teddy started fussing, so Draco let go of Scorpius just long enough to pull out his wand and activate the bouncer, before putting his wand away and returning his hand to his son.

"She agreed to come in half an hour and I handed her the secret. She handed it back to me when she finished reading it," Harry said, lighting up the secret and letting it burn.

"Good."

Harry sat next to Draco and took Sev and the bottle from Draco, while he told Draco that he'd passed his apparition test, which was good news and meant he would be capable of apparating away if he was cornered by obsessive fans. Draco was happy to hear it, even though he still had to go in to take his test, so Harry went on to tell Draco that he was accepted to join the Aurors whenever he wanted, with back pay and medical benefits.

Draco was happy to hear that one of his suggestions had been taken, but he didn't let on to Harry that he had suggested it. Instead he sat and listened to Harry's account and tried to look like he was happy for Harry, even though he was scared to death that Harry would be killed in the line of duty.

Sev finished his bottle and started pushing off of Harry, like he wanted down, so Harry put him into his jumping thing. "Draco, what's this thing called anyway?" Harry asked as Sev hit a button and made the lights and music come on.

"A jumper; actually that kind is a stationary jumper," Draco answered, still feeding Scorpius. Breast feeding took longer than bottle feeding.

"Oh, yeah, 'cause he jumps in it, I get it. Will you be alright with them for a minute? I've got to take a leak," Harry said.

"Yeah, they're fine."

"In that case, I'd like to change too before Hermione gets here," Harry said, before leaving the room. He was wearing a set of nice wizarding robes he had borrowed from Draco's closet and he didn't want to ruin them.

The kids were fine at first. Scorpius finished nursing and wanted down too, so Draco set Scorpius in the green jumper. But then Teddy started wailing, so Draco picked him up out of the blue bouncer and took the baby back to the sofa to figure out the problem. Teddy had just eaten, so Draco started patting his back, to see if Teddy had another burp. Teddy calmed down a bit at that and his wails turned to quiet fussing noises, which he was still making when the fire roared green, Hermione Granger stepped through the floo, and Scorpius' head snapped immediately to the unfamiliar witch before he let out a piercing scream.

"Calm down Hermione," Draco ordered as he got up with Teddy in one arm and picked Scorpius up with the other.

Hermione froze in place examining the apparent scene of domestic bliss that had shattered upon her arrival. The black haired baby was screeching and it seemed to be because of her and Draco had said to calm down. She didn't know what the problem was, but she knew occlumency, so she cleared her mind and calmed herself down.

"Mipsy! I need a green soother!" Draco called from the couch where he had just sat back down with Teddy and Scorpius. Scorpius was still screeching and Teddy was fussing harder.

A second later an elf was handing Draco a soother and Sev shouted, "Elf!" so the elf turned and asked the young master what she could do for him.

Draco shoved the soother into Scorpius' mouth and held it there a moment while the raven haired baby stopped screaming. When Scorpius had calmed down a bit, he sat Scorpius in his lap and used his free hands to put Teddy back onto his shoulder and resume the burping.

Teddy let out a large burp just before Sev let out a loud string of hisses. Draco turned his attention to the baby still in the jumper and saw that the house elf was holding the pet snake in front of Sev, who was reaching out to grab it, while hissing in Hermione's direction.

"No Mipsy, take the snake away," Draco ordered.

"Yes Master Draco, sir," Mipsy said vanishing the snake. "Mipsy is sorry Master Severus, sir. Should Mipsy punish herself Master Severus, sir?"

"Mipsy, why did you get the snake?" Draco asked.

"Master Severus, sir, asked Mipsy for it, sir," Mipsy replied.

"How? All the boy said was, 'Elf.'"

"Master Severus, sir, said, 'Elf,' sir, and then Master Severus, sir, said, 'Snake,' sir."

"He said snake in English Mipsy? Or was it in another language?" Draco asked. He certainly hadn't heard the boy say anything other than elf and hissing noises.

"Mipsy believes Master Severus, sir, said snake in Parseltongue, sir."

"Do you speak Parseltongue Mipsy?" Draco asked.

"Mipsy only knows a few words, sir."

"How do you know those words?"

"From the elven colony, sir. Mipsy heard Master Severus, sir, speaking Parseltongue, sir, so Mipsy asked the other elves to teach Mipsy a few words, sir. Mipsy is trying to learn, sir, so Mipsy may serve Young Master Severus, sir, properly sir."

"Which elves know Parseltongue Mipsy?" Draco was curious, because to his knowledge, there were no wizards left alive who spoke it, besides Severus.

"The Gaunt family elves, sir. The Gaunt family has no more sirs and mams, but the elves still belong to the House of Gaunt outside Little Hangleton, sir. The elves haven't been called in many years and stay at the elven colony, sir."

"Do these elves have a master Mipsy?"

"The Master of the Gaunt family elves, sir, was the Dark Lord, sir. Mipsy thinks the Dark Lord, sir, was a bad master, because he was never calling his elves, sir. The Dark Lord, sir, is dead and the elves do not know whom to call Master now, sir. The elves are very upset, sir, and the elves did not teach Mipsy any knew words when Mipsy went to the elven colony yesterday, sir."

"You may tell the elves that if they are without a master, they may come here and I'll be their master, if they wish. I believe my father is the only Death Eater left standing in a position to take them in, although I hear the Goyles might get off, so if the elves so choose, they may also ask Mrs. Goyle to be their mistress."

"Oh thank you sir! Master Draco Malfoy, sir, is such a kind master, sir. Mipsy will tell the Gaunt elves, sir."

"And Mipsy, please don't bring the snake or do anything else Master Severus requires of you in Parseltongue, without checking with me first," Draco said. The elf nodded. "You are dismissed Mipsy."

Mipsy left with a crack and Severus started crying now that his elf was gone. Teddy and Scorpius were finally quiet, so Draco summoned the two bouncers for them, before retrieving Severus from the jumper. "No snakes without an adult Sev," Draco said.

Sev soon forgot what he was crying about and wanted down, so Draco set him on the floor next to the bouncers and turned his attention to Hermione, who was still standing silently by the fireplace. "Sorry about that; it can get hectic around here with three babies and I had no idea the Gaunt family still had house elves, nor that they spoke Parseltongue. You may have a seat in one of the armchairs. I don't suspect Scorpius will start crying again unless you cast a spell. What did you cast before coming here?"

"I sort of got in an argument with Ron and hexed him. Why was Scorpius crying? Did I do something wrong?" Hermione asked, sitting down.

Severus had crawled the half a foot over to Scorpius' bouncer and was using the sides to pull himself up onto his knees, to look at the bar of toys with flashing lights and music.

"Yes, you did: you cast a violent spell before coming here and he is sensitive. Please don't cast any curses, jinxes, or hexes while here or even shortly before coming here."

"Oh my! I'm so sorry; I didn't know. It won't happen again."

"See that it doesn't." Scorpius' bouncer was sagging under the additional weight, so Draco picked Sev back up, pulling him off of the bouncer. "Sev, I know you don't actually want in a bouncer, so why don't you go back in your jumper?" Draco asked, taking Sev back over to the blue jumper and depositing the child. This time Sev was happy to play with his own toy and bounce away, so Draco went back to the sofa and the two babies sitting quietly in their bouncers.

"Draco, is Severus a Parselmouth? Is that why he was hissing at me?" Having one baby screech and the other hiss at her was fairly unnerving to Hermione.

"Yes, we believe so. Although Harry no longer is one, so I've no idea what he's saying." While Draco was talking, Harry came into the room, freshly changed into lounge clothes.

"What's going on? Did something happen? I didn't hear anything up in the room," Harry said.

"Probably because the muffling charm is still on the walls. That's the problem with them; you put them up when you don't want to be woken up and you forget to take them down when you're done, and then you miss it when Wizarding War Number Three breaks out in your drawing room," Draco replied.

"It wasn't that bad; just all three babies were crying. Severus is quiet frightening with a snake and hissing, by the way," Hermione added.

"He was hissing at you?" Harry asked.

Draco explained what had just happened with Sev, the elf, and the snake. "I suspect Sev was trying to protect his brother from Hermione, because she came in crackling of violent magic from a fight with Weasley."

Harry looked at Hermione questioningly, so Hermione said, "Ronald was being a prat again, so I may have hexed him a little bit. Next time I'll hex him well before coming over. I'm sorry; I didn't know you had a sensitive or a parselmouth."

"And a metamorphmagus," Draco added.

"And a metamorphmagus," Harry agreed, picking Teddy up from the bouncer and sitting on the sofa next to Draco.

Draco kissed Harry, but it wasn't deep or long, because there were three babies and a witch in the room. "Well then if everything's settled, I best be going. I don't want to be late for my appointment. Oh, and Harry, it's nap time. Scorp is practically asleep and Sev is rubbing his eyes over there," Draco said pointing to Sev right before the boy yawned. "See, he admits it."

"Alright, I'll put them down. Is there anything I need for that?"

"Yeah; I gave Scorp a soother, so Sev will get mad if he doesn't get one for his nap time too. Perhaps next time you go to a muggle store, you could buy Teddy a few soothers; it's not good to give one baby another baby's old soother."

"Yeah, okay," Harry agreed.

Draco nodded and then left via the floo.

* * *

Author's Note: Up next will be Harry and Hermione's adventure with naptime…


	19. Chapter 19

"Mipsy!" Harry called and the elf appeared. "Can you get me a blue soother?" A blue soother appeared in Mipsy's hand. She passed it to him and he dismissed the elf. "So Hermione, are you up for an adventure in naptime?"

"Sure, what should I do?"

"Why don't you take Teddy and I'll get Scorp and Sev. I don't think Scorp likes new people, because it took him a day to warm up to me," Harry said, passing Teddy over to Hermione.

Hermione agreed, so Harry went and retrieved Sev from the jumper. Harry handed the baby the blue soother, which Sev gladly popped into his mouth. Then Harry went back to the green bouncer, where Scorpius was sleeping.

"Do you think I'll wake him if I pick him up, Hermione?"

"Probably Harry. It might be best to leave him in the bouncer."

"Probably. I'll cast a monitoring charm on him so we can hear him while we're putting Sev to sleep." Harry cast the charm and then led Hermione upstairs to the nursery. "The blue things are Sev's and the green are Scorp's." Harry said, placing Sev into the blue crib. "Draco said a lot of Scorp's things are charmed specifically to work better for him, because of the leg; it's best not to mix them up."

"Alright. Where does Teddy sleep?"

"In the basinet, but he doesn't take naps at the same time as the twins. If he's awake, it's best to keep him up so that he'll sleep through the night." Sev turned over and started using the bars of the crib to pull himself into a kneeling position. "No Sev, lie down," Harry said, laying the baby back down. Sev cried and spit out the soother, so Harry picked it back up and put it back in Sev's mouth, but Sev continued to cry. "What should I do Hermione?"

"Perhaps take him to the rocker for a bit," Hermione suggested. She was about to sit down in the rocker with Teddy, but if Harry needed it for Sev, she could stand. She was thinking about sitting on the bed, but she didn't know whose bed it was.

"Okay." Harry picked up Sev, taking him to the rocker. He noticed that Hermione didn't have anywhere to sit, so he said, "You can sit on the bed Hermione; it's a guest bed that Andy's been using and I don't think she'll mind."

Hermione sat down on the bed and Harry rocked Sev, who continued to cry, making hissing sounds in between his wails. One of the sounds Sev kept making sounded like, "Sssoorr-ee-usssss."

"Hermione, do you think he's saying Scorpius?" Harry asked, after about the tenth time Severus said it.

"Oh, yeah, that could be it. Perhaps Mipsy might know; she seemed to understand Severus earlier."

"Mipsy!" Harry called and the elf appeared. "What is Sev saying?"

"Master Severus, sir, is saying, 'Brother,' sir, and Master Severus, sir, is saying, 'Sor-e-us,' sir.'

"Is Soreus, Scorpius, Mipsy?" Harry asked.

"Mipsy does not know, sir."

"Thank you Mipsy," Harry said, before dismissing the elf.

"He must want Scorpius with him to go to sleep," Hermione concluded.

"Yeah, can you watch him while I go get Scorpius?" Harry asked, setting Sev back down in the blue crib. Sev was already rolling over and crawling towards the rail.

"Yes, of course," Hermione said, getting up and putting Teddy into the nearby basinet, which had the same blue sea turtle pattern as the crib.

Harry went downstairs to retrieve the sleeping Scorpius and Severus pulled himself up onto his knees, using the crib railing again, staring after Harry. Hermione went over to Severus and started to talk to him, telling him, "Daddy will be right back with Scorpius," but she didn't know if she should pick Severus up, or if that would make it worse.

"Sssoor-ee-ussss," Sev repeated.

"Yes, Scorpius. Daddy's getting him right now," Hermione agreed.

"Ssssoooor-ee-usssss," Sev said again, before letting out a wail.

Harry returned carefully carrying a sleeping Scorpius. "Shush, Sev, you're gonna wake Scorp," Harry whispered as he put Scorpius into the green crib. Scorpius stirred and sucked his soother, but didn't wake, so Harry went and picked up Sev. "See Sev, Scorp's right there."

Sev reached out for his brother, but Harry was worried that Sev would wake Scorp, so he held Sev back, only letting him look in Scorp's crib. "Ssssooor-ee-usss," Sev said again and opened and closed his hands in the gesture that Harry had seen the twins use when they wanted Draco to pick them up.

"No Sev, you'll wake Scorp up," Harry said.

Hermione was amazed that Teddy wasn't fussing with all this noise, so she went back over to the basinet to check on the baby. Teddy was still awake and looking back up at her with eyes that were mostly blue and hair that was initially teal, but quickly flickered to aqua.

Sev said, "Ssssoor-ee-usssss," one more time, before screaming at the top of his lungs.

Hearing Severus' wail, Druella came hurrying in as quickly as her old legs could carry her, quickly taking him from Harry and asking, "What's wrong? What did you do to him Harry?"

"Nothing. I was just trying to put him to bed and he was asking for Scorpius, but Scorpius was already asleep," Harry said.

"Sssooor-ee-ussss," Sev agreed, calming down a bit now that he was in his great grandmother's arms.

"Did you just say Scorpius?" Druella asked the baby in her arms, before looking down at the still sleeping Scorpius in the green crib. "Alright, but don't wake him." Druella slowly lowered Sev into the crib and Sev's crying turned immediately into quiet gasps for air as the baby calmed down.

"Um, here, he spit this out," Harry said, handing Druella the blue soother. Druella gave it to Sev, who stopped crying and lay down next to Scorpius, who was amazingly, still asleep. "How did Scorpius not wake up with Sev screaming like that?"

"Muffling charm on all the cribs, basinets, and cradles. I suspect Teddy and Scorpius didn't hear a thing," Druella replied, indicating Teddy, who was now happily changing his hair color between scarlet and aqua and every color in between.

"Brilliant," Harry replied and truly it was; otherwise, the twins would probably wake each other up all through the night.

"They don't usually insist on sleeping with each other, but sometimes when they're agitated they do. I suspect it's all the new people in the house; he probably didn't like when Draco left him with two strangers," Druella said.

"I'm not a stranger; I'm his dad," Harry protested.

"He just met you Harry. You need to give him time," Druella said.

Harry agreed and Druella excused herself. Sev and Scorp were both sleeping peacefully, so he cast a monitoring charm on them. Then Harry and Hermione took Teddy back down to the drawing room.

"It's been quite the adventure already, hasn't it?" Hermione asked, sitting down on the sofa with Teddy.

"Yeah; I've never been left alone with them before. That's sort of why I wanted you to come over and help me while Draco's gone. I can't believe he watched all three of them all morning by himself," Harry replied, sitting next to her.

"When I first appeared in the floo, Draco looked completely fine with all three of them quiet, but then as soon as I stepped out, Scorpius was screaming and then Teddy was crying and then Severus was hissing at me with an elf and a snake. Why is there even a snake in the house?"

"Draco bought it for him Sunday while he was out. Of all the things Draco couldn't get in hiding, apparently the one thing he wanted most was a snake for the little parselmouth."

"I still can't believe that little boy was talking to a snake! And then he said Scorpius' name and the word elf too; he's very advanced."

"Scorpius is advanced too, just in different ways. They're both highly intelligent and magical."

"I'm sure. Does it matter which one of these chairs I set Teddy in? I assume they're originally for your twins and that Teddy doesn't have one of his own."

"The blue one. Sev doesn't use his anymore, so Draco gave it to Teddy. The cradles and the basinets were all Draco's too, but we've been using them for Teddy. Apparently Lucius carved the two cradles for the twins after they were born."

"Oh, I didn't think he was the sort. It's hard to picture Lucius doing something with his own two hands."

"Yeah, but he must've. I mean, have you seen the cradles?"

"No."

Harry summoned the cradle from the dining room and showed it to Hermione. It was made out of a dark cherry colored wood, just like everything else in the nursery and like all of Scorpius' things, it had a green and gold pattern on it, but with scorpions instead of sea turtles. The cradle was covered in intricate scorpion carvings and the head had Scorpius' name. "Severus' cradle is blue and silver with geckos. That one says, 'Hyperion,' because that was what they were calling him before Professor Snape died."

"Wow, he clearly put a lot of work into this," Hermione agreed. "He's still playing nice? He hasn't caused any problems?"

"Yeah, he's been fine, no problems. He even took me with him to the Ministry today. I got my apparition license and talked to the Aurors. Auror Robards was really nice and told me that you, Ron, and I've got jobs with him, we don't even need to put in an application; we just have to show up. He even said the Ministry is going to pay the three of us for the time we spent in hiding, taking down Voldemort. He said I'll get top Auror pay, but you and Ron will get the introductory Auror pay. That's a lot of money, and with three kids, I need it."

"So are you and Draco taking in Teddy then? I was surprised to see how good Draco was with him."

"Maybe; I've got to talk to Andy about it. Draco said he'd take him, but only if we're adopting him. He doesn't want to go halfway with it."

"That's good, if not unexpected."

"Yeah, I was surprised. Draco brought it up before I'd even considered it. But then Draco's the one producing milk for Teddy now and Teddy is adorable, so I can see how he's gotten attached so quickly."

"When are you going to speak with Andy about it?"

"I'm not sure. We already talked once, a few days ago, but we didn't come to a real conclusion; we both just sort of said we wanted the other in Teddy's life and agreed to share him, but Draco wants a real decision about whose house Teddy is gonna live at and whose house Teddy is gonna visit."

"Yeah, I can understand that.

After that Hermione talked about the Weasleys for a bit, but then she changed the subject by asking, "And what about you? How'd the contraceptive spell work? Did you talk to Draco?"

"I haven't used the spell yet; Draco doesn't feel comfortable doing it in a house full of people, but I did talk to him."

"And?"

"And you were right: he already took a permanent contraceptive potion, so if I took one too, we'd be infertile."

"Oh Harry! That means….you'll have too…or do you not want to do it at all?"

"Yeah, I've been thinking about it. It'll either have to be me or we'll just have the three boys and no girls. I still feel uncomfortable thinking about it, but Draco and I had a good talk and he was telling me that he felt the same way until he was actually pregnant and then everything changed. He thinks everything will change for me too… he got me thinking that maybe I could do it and I do want a little princess Hermione, I do. Draco's been talking about having one for so long I've gotten used to the idea and not ever having one just seems wrong."

"Oh Harry, I'm sure you'll be fine having a baby. Just look how good you are with Teddy and the twins!"

"I'm not nearly as good with them as Draco is, but he said he'd help me out with our daughter and stuff…well he said he wants to have a career and work, but if I have the baby in the next few years, he'll stay home with the kids while I go to work for a few years."

"That's great!"

Harry and Hermione talked for a bit longer, before Draco returned; the twins still not up from their nap.

"How'd it go?" Harry asked as Draco took the seat next to him.

"Good; Professor Snape should be just a little bit closer to getting his Order of Merlin. Did you know that was the one thing he always said he wanted? An Order of Merlin for all his unsung good deeds?"

"No, I didn't know," Harry replied.

"I think I heard Dumbledore mention it once; us helping Sirius escape cost Professor Snape an Order of Merlin," Hermione said.

Then Draco asked them how it went with the boys. Harry told Draco all about Sev's little fit and saying Scorpius' name for the first time.

"He said Scorpius' name? Wow! What'd you do to him to make him have to say something so difficult?"

"Well Scorpius was already asleep, so we left him downstairs in the bouncer. Your grandmum said that Sev was probably upset because he barely knows me and I tried to put him down for a nap without his brother."

"Oh the little guy was probably worried about his baby brother. He's very protective of Scorpius, you know."

"No, I didn't know, but that's really great," Harry said thinking about how Sev would have to be protective of Scorp, what with Scorp's handicap.

Draco was hungry, so he excused himself to eat a snack. It was an hour and a half 'til dinner, but he was breast feeding for three these days and couldn't wait.

Harry and Hermione stayed in the drawing room, but a few minutes later the monitoring charm went off, so they took Teddy with them upstairs and found the boys sitting up; Sev had his arms holding onto Scorp's shirt in a little baby hug.

"Oh how cute they look! Harry, you have to take a picture of this; do you know where their camera is?" Hermione asked.

Harry didn't know. He looked around and saw it sitting on a shelf, so he snapped a few pictures. Then he put the camera back and went to pick Severus up, but the baby's hands clung onto Scorpius' shirt. "Ssssor-ee-ussss," Sev insisted.

Scorpius reached his little hand out and patted Sev, saying, "Hi."

"Father's here now; he's just downstairs. Let me take you to him Sev," Harry said.

"Harry, try to pick one up with each hand; you are going to carry them both anyway, right?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah," Harry replied, reaching in with both hands and trying to get them at the same time. It took a moment, but then he had them.

Harry and Hermione took the boys back downstairs to Draco, who was eating in the dining room. "Sev won't let Scorpius go and he's still saying Soreus," Harry explained, sitting down next to Draco.

Scorp patted Sev again and said, "Hi."

"Sssooor-eee-ussss," Sev replied.

"I'm impressed little man, keep it up and keep an eye on your baby brother like a good big brother. Family comes first with Malfoys, always remember that," Draco told Sev, giving him a kiss on the head and then taking the baby when Sev let go of Scorp and reached out for Draco.

"Well I have to be getting back to the Burrow. Owl me the next time I can come over; if you give me more notice, I could stay longer next time," Hermione suggested.

"You're welcome to stop by tomorrow at the same time; I have an interview with the Quibbler," Draco replied.

Hermione agreed and handed Teddy over to Draco, who had just finished his snack. Then she saw herself to the fireplace and left.

Then Harry and Draco took the boys out to the patio to enjoy the warm summer evening. Harry summoned the jumpers and inserted Scorp into the green one, while Draco lowered Sev single-handedly into the blue one, holding Teddy with his other hand.

Teddy woke up and started fussing when Sev let out a screech of delight. "He's probably hungry. Have you feed him?" Draco asked, knowing that it'd been three hours since he fed Teddy and that was a bit long for such a young baby.

"Um, no. He didn't cry. Should I have?" Harry asked worried.

"Maybe not, but never let him go more than four hours without a feed," Draco advised, before calling Jingly for a bottle for Teddy.

Draco fed Teddy and was burping him when Narcissa and Andy came home and joined them on the patio. When Teddy burped, Draco handed the baby over to Andy. Then he wrapped Harry's arms around him, snuggling into Harry's side and turning his head for a quick snog.

They all stayed out on the patio and waited for Lucius to arrive for dinner, but when Draco got hungry, he asked, "Mother, can you check the Manor for father and see what's taking him so long? If he won't be home anytime soon, then I think we should eat without him."

Narcissa agreed and apparated off to the Manor. She came back fifteen minutes later and said, "He's fine, but he's been searching the Manor for all the Malfoy family heirlooms and can't find any of them. He said they were gone during the summer when he came home from Azkaban, but he'd just assumed they were up in the attic and they're not there. He's worried someone must've stolen them."

"I've got all the heirlooms Mother. I have a bag with an undetectable extension charm full up with shrunken things; I didn't leave anything of value behind."

"Alright, I'll go tell him, but your father still needs to call the Aurors in to collect the Dark Lords things. He sent me back with this bag full of Bella's things to have a look through," Narcissa said, indicating another bag with an extension charm on it.

"Here, I'll put it away and you go tell him not to worry," Draco said, taking the bag.

Harry wondered what was in the bag, the twins were fine with Andy, and Teddy was asleep, so he followed Draco upstairs. Draco went into a room on the other side of the hallway that Harry had never been into before. It appeared to be another bedroom. "Draco, what's in the bag? If it's Bella's, it's probably dangerous," Harry said.

"If it's Bella's, my grandmother has a right to it. I'll let my father sort through it and he'll make the determination of whether or not it's safe enough to give my grandmother. If not, he'll turn it over to the Aurors; he's calling the Aurors to come and get the Dark Lord's things after all."

"What if he's not? What if there are some of Voldemort's things in that bag that your father wanted? There could be dangerous dark artifacts!"

"If any of the artifacts are dark or dangerous, they will be properly stored out of little baby hands. And judging by the fact that you don't seem to be comfortable handling them, we'll keep them out of Savior hands too."

"I can't believe you just said that!"

"I can't believe you're surprised. Haven't you known all along that my family has a history of dark magic, performing dark spells, and of having dark artifacts? Just because something is dark or dangerous, doesn't make it uniformly bad. Some things are dangerous when used one way, but could save a life when used another."

"Your family still has dark artifacts then? That's what your dad was so freaked out about, searching for in the Manor, because he thought someone had stolen them, but you've had them all along?"

"I'm not going to answer that and you shouldn't ask me it."

"Draco! We're married! I'm the bloody Savior, how did you think I'd react?"

"I thought you'd be mature enough to accept my family for who we are. If you have a problem with any artifact we show you or spell we perform in front of you, then ask. There are reasons that we have our artifacts and use our spells. If we're doing so in front of you or the children, we'll be happy to explain why we're using it and how to use it safely. But what I'm not going to do is hand over our antiques to the Aurors to destroy or turn my father in for practicing dark spells. I'm also not going to show you forthright everything we have. It's not necessary and at this point you couldn't understand it all."

"Draco! How could you even say that? I just got done killing Voldemort, the greatest dark wizard of all time, and you're gonna let your family fall right back into the dark arts?"

"If I remember correctly, you've used a dark spell or two in your day. I know you used one on me; am I to understand that it's the only one you've ever used? My Aunt Bella said you hit her with a cruciatus, was she lying? Did you really make it through the entire war without casting cruciatus, imperius, or avada kedavra?"

"I did hit you with a dark curse and I'm sorry about it. And I did try to hit your aunt with the cruciatus curse and I hit one of the Carrows with it. I even imperiused a goblin at Gringotts. But I did those things to defeat Voldemort. I never used the killing curse and I never used Sectumsempra after I saw what it did to you."

"See, two examples where using the cruciatus curse turned out to be positive. What if the only way to kill the Dark Lord was to cast a killing curse? Would you do it then?"

"Yes, I would, but only then and never again."

"And it'd be justified and right to do so. And that is the very worst of the dark curses; the stuff my family has is mild in comparison."

"Well what does your family have?"

"If I show you something, will you promise not to go blabbing to the Aurors? Swear on our wedding vows?"

"I can't do that; what if it's really dangerous?"

"It's not. It could be put to dangerous purposes, but what we use it for isn't dangerous and doesn't hurt anyone."

"If that's true, then I promise."

"Fine. Go downstairs and I'll retrieve something to show you; I don't want you to know where they are kept. Knowing you, you'll go snooping around and get yourself hurt."

"Fine, alright, I'll go," Harry said and went downstairs.

Draco hid the bag his father had sent in his father's wardrobe, cast a locking spell on it that only a Malfoy would know, and went to his grandmother's room. He pulled down the hatch to the attic, climbed up the stairs, found his chest, removed several protective charms and locking spells, retrieved his bag of Malfoy family artifacts and left behind his other bag of dark Malfoy family artifacts. Instead of getting something actually dark to show Harry, he got a box with a powered potion ingredient out of his potions kit and put it in his pocket. This powder wasn't dark, but it looked just like another powder he owned that was dark and Harry wouldn't know the difference. The dark powder would remain safely locked away in the attic.

Draco went down to his parents' room and placed the bag of Malfoy family artifacts on the bed for his father, before going to the stairs.

"Harry, you can come up now!" Draco called.

Harry was all too eagerly awaiting Draco's call, so he was running up the steps moments later. He followed Draco into Draco's room, where Draco sat on his bed with a small box. It was a plain cardboard box the size someone might put jewelry in. "What's that?" Harry asked, pointing at the box.

"This box contains a potion ingredient needed to make the potion that assures that only girls are produced. That's what I plan on using this ingredient for and that potion is harmless, unless you're a boy sperm; then it's deadly."

"Is that all it can be used for?"

"No. There are a great many uses this ingredient can be put too, all of them more deadly than that. For example, it could make a potion that would be fatal to _all_ male wizards, not just the single-celled variety. That potion is illegal. My potion is legal, but extremely expensive to the point where we wouldn't be able to afford it unless I make it, in which case it's practically free, because I have the only regulated ingredient. So Harry, you need to decide: can I keep this, or is it something too dangerous to be in the hands of a known Death Eater?" Draco asked, pulling up his shirt sleeve and casting a finite on the glamour that was always covering his mark.

"What is that? I thought you said it faded when not called?"

"It did fade, just not completely. It's been like this since He died; it was quite dark and inflamed all through my pregnancy, when He kept calling me to him. I don't like to look at it, so I use a glamour."

"Alright. Um, I wished you'd told me."

"And I wish you'd tell me right now whether or not I can be trusted with this ingredient? I could make a poison and kill the Minister of Magic…."

"But you won't, right?"

"Right."

"Does your dad have access to this ingredient?"

"He did when he was Lord Malfoy; now he doesn't."

"Then fine, you can keep it, but I'm not saying you can keep the other things. This is the only ingredient we need for that potion and I doubt the other things all have benign uses."

"They do."

"Then tell me a few of them."

"There is an ingredient used in making invisibility cloaks; it helps the cloaking charm hold longer without degrading for years. Do you want to know why my family has so much more money than the Weasley family?"

"Why?"

"Besides not having more kids than we could afford, we make a lot of things for ourselves and sell expensive things to others. My Grandfather Abraxas had a knack for making invisibility cloaks and this ingredient is left over from that work. A great number of the instruments for making the cloaks can be put towards other more nefarious uses and would be taken away from my father if the Aurors knew he had them. But I have them now and he doesn't have access to them; maybe someday one of our children will want to make invisibility cloaks and I'll pass these things on."

"Alright, fine, you win: it seems your items aren't all bad."

"Good, now go back downstairs so I can put this away; I don't want the babies or my father having a chance to get into it."

"Yeah, okay, but don't you need to make that potion?"

"I already did, before you came; this is extra for the next time it's needed in the Malfoy family."

"Great."

"I'll be down in a minute," Draco said and waited for Harry to go downstairs before calling a house elf to take the potion ingredient to the potions laboratory. All of the Malfoy family's dark artifacts and ingredients didn't have such legitimate uses as the examples he had told Harry about, but Harry didn't need to know that; Harry would be happier not knowing.

By the time Draco got to the dining room, Narcissa was already back from her second trip to the Manor.

"I talked to your father. He was relieved to know you had everything and he's going to stay and wait for the Aurors to go through the house. We can eat without him; I had Leeky take him a plate," Narcissa said.

"I left a bag of benign things from the Manor on your bed."

"Alright, we'll look through it at a later date; I'm sure your father wants to make sure it's all there."

They sat down to dinner and ate without Lucius that night. Draco even went to sleep before Lucius came home. Narcissa waited up for her husband and was relieved when Lucius finally returned home unaccompanied by Aurors.

Lucius had a very long evening with Aurors. Of course the Aurors wouldn't simply accept his good Samaritan actions of turning over the Dark Lords non-valuable possessions for what it was; they questioned him, accusing him of everything from taking items, to these being his items. But Lucius had had his lawyer with him the entire time, who acted as his witness and vouched for him that Lucius had done nothing wrong and lied for him concerning the items he took. But then what did the Aurors need with the Gaunt family candlesticks or the Slytherin family napkin rings? And why waste perfectly good heirlooms, when he had grandchildren who needed an inheritance? Severus was sure to like them, since they were snake themed.


	20. Chapter 20

Harry and Draco spent Wednesday morning together with their two boys. It was very hot, so the small family went over to the creek that ran through the rear of the property. They all stripped down to their skivvies, including the twins, and wadded in the shallow water. Most of the creek was a fast moving shallow stream, but there was a small shallow pond that Draco's ancestors had built for just such activities. The water was cold and refreshing; just a bit too cold for babies, so Harry cast a warming charm on it until it was cool, but not too cold.

"You know, last summer I remember sitting out on the patio staring at the grape vines, knowing this was here, but also knowing I'd never be able to make it this far," Draco said as the babies splashed in the cool water.

"Why? You couldn't have been that big until the very end of summer."

"I was sick; didn't I tell you?"

"Um, I think you mentioned being sick, but I thought you'd only been sick at the end."

"No, I started feeling tired almost immediately after leaving you. Within a month, I was sleeping eighteen hours a day and limited to the house and the patio. Within two, I was sleeping twenty hours a day and limited to my bedroom. The rest of the pregnancy I barely remember."

"I'm sorry, I had no idea it was so hard on you. If I had known, I wouldn't've suggested you get pregnant again. I wouldn't ask you to go through that again," Harry said, shifting Severus into his left arm and wrapping his right arm around Draco.

"Professor Snape said it was worse because it was twins and because you were gone. If you were with me, I could've drawn off your supply of magic to help support the extra baby."

"So it was a complication of having twins?"

"It was so sever because of the twins; I still would've had some magical depletion if it were only one baby or if you'd been there. You're more powerful than me; you'd probably be fine being pregnant."

"Yeah, I'll be fine and I'll carry the next one. Merlin, I had no idea; were there any other complications?"

"I remember there was one when I was giving birth. Instead of just waiting for the cervix to fully dilate, Professor Snape made me start pushing as soon as possible. He said Scorpius was getting distressed and he didn't think Scorpius would last much longer. Severus was in front, so he had to be delivered before Professor Snape could get to Scorpius. Hence I had to push."

"That must've been so scary."

"The really scary part was after Severus was out, when Professor Snape reached in and pulled Scorpius out and was trying to clear his airways and get him to breathe."

"I thought you had to push? How was he able to reach in and grab him out?"

"I had to push for Sev, because he was so much larger and my cervix probably dilated some more while I was pushing too. By the time Sev was out, I was dilated enough for Professor Snape to reach in and pull the smaller baby out."

"Oh. Did Professor Snape get his airways clear?"

"Yes, but Scorp still wouldn't breathe. That's when Professor Snape told mother and father to get ready to take Scorpius to the muggles. Mother grabbed a blanket and Professor Snape cut the cord and they apparated away."

"At least it all ended well. And there's a chance the Ministry might pay for the hospital stay," Harry replied.

"What?"

"Oh, did I forget to tell you? My back pay comes with back benefits. They said they'll pay Professor Snape's estate for midwife services for any care he provided you; I just need to provide them with the details. And they're looking into seeing if the insurance covers muggle hospital visits."

"That's great! I'll get my mother and father to help me put together a list; Professor Snape did leave everything to Sev. And if the insurance doesn't cover muggle visits, we'll take our issue to the papers and get public opinion on our side and get the law to include muggle visits during emergencies."

"Between the Potter, Black, and Snape family, Sev should have a big enough inheritance, right?"

"Prince family; the Snape's didn't have anything and all Professor Snape's possessions came from his Prince relatives. But actually I was thinking we might want to save the Black things and maybe some of the Potter things for our daughter."

"Why? I thought we wanted our boys to be equal?"

"Well yes, of course we do. But they'll be equal without the Black family heirlooms, that's for sure after what Father brought back from the Manor."

"Bellatrix's things? Are any of them cursed?"

"Well he brought back some of Bella's things, but nothing cursed. Most of what he brought back were Gaunt, Slytherin, and Peverell family heirlooms that Lord Voldemort had. Apparently the Gaunts had squandered their wealth and lost almost everything before Voldemort was even born, but Voldemort acquired it all back. Father found a trunk of heirlooms, such as napkin rings, silverware, crystal, a statue, cufflinks… The list goes on; if it was old and from one of His relatives, He took it."

"Shouldn't we give these things over to the Aurors? They can check for curses and give it back to the rightful owner."

"Father checked it for curses and he would argue that he is the rightful owner, being the only surviving Death Eater likely to walk. I'd argue that you have a right to those things, because you were his victim. Teddy has a right to those things too, since he was also orphaned by the Dark Lord. If we keep these things for our family, we'll have enough heirlooms to have some for Teddy too. Don't you want that?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Then we're in agreement?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"No."

"Then yes, okay, we can keep them."

"Good," Draco said, kissing Harry. "My chest hurts."

"Why? What's wrong?"

"I need to pump," Draco admitted.

"Alright, why don't you get out and sit on the edge of the pond, and I'll hold both boys?"

"Yeah, okay," Draco agreed, getting out and putting the pump, but not his robes back on. He sat with his legs and feet in the water on a large slab of rock at the edge of the water, where the pond suddenly dropped off to three feet deep. The other side of the pond gently sloped in, but this side was boarded by the giant boulder.

Harry and Draco stayed out in the cool water for a couple of hours, before putting their boys into the stroller and going back to the house. Scorpius was exhausted and fell asleep on the way, but Sev stayed awake and didn't go down for a morning nap.

Draco went to talk with his grandmother, so Harry went in the drawing room with Severus to see what Andy and Teddy were doing. Teddy was in a blue swing and Andy was reading through a stack of papers.

"Oh Harry, would you be a dear and watch Teddy for me for a bit?" Andy asked when she saw Harry come in.

"Yeah sure," Harry replied. "You're not leaving, are you?"

"Thank you for watching him Harry. No, I'm not leaving, but I need to write an owl to the probate lawyer; I need to get Dora and Remus' wills figured out soon," Andy said, before leaving Harry alone with the two boys.

Harry spent the next little while playing with the boys and then orchestrating feeds and nappy changes. By the time Harry was done with nappy changes, it was lunch time and Scorpius was awake. Draco and Druella came into the nursery and each grabbed one of the twins, leaving Harry to carry Teddy down to the dining room for lunch. Teddy was placed into the cradle, Sev went into his high chair, and Draco held Scorpius on his lap, nursing him.

Narcissa and Andy came in and joined them. Andy got an owl while they were eating and went in the other room to read it.

When everyone was nearly done eating, Andy came back in the room and said, "Cissy, the probate attorney owled me back already; he needs to see me as soon as possible."

"Draco dear, what times will you be gone this afternoon?" Narcissa asked.

"From two to four, same as yesterday. Why?" Draco asked.

"Andy and I could go to the attorney's office before you leave. Harry and my mother can watch Teddy while you're gone and Sev and Scorp will be asleep, correct?"

"Yes, and Hermione's coming over again, in case Harry needs help," Draco replied.

"Perfect, then it's settled," Narcissa said.

Harry didn't like that he was being left alone with the babies again, but he had survived yesterday, he would have Hermione with him again, and two of the three babies would sleep through the majority of the time.

"I think we should get going now. That way we might be back before Draco leaves," Andy suggested.

Narcissa agreed, so the two women left. Draco and Harry moved the boys into the drawing room. Teddy was down for a nap and Draco played with Scorpius on his lap, while Harry spent some time crawling around the floor with Sev. Sev still moved slowly, but he was picking up the pace and Harry figured Sev would be very mobile in the near future.

"Draco, with Sev crawling now, shouldn't we baby-proof the house?" Harry asked, taking a break from crawling on his hands and knees.

"What's baby proof?" Draco asked.

"It's where you put up things to make the house safer for babies, like gates at the top of the stairs, so the babies can't crawl onto the stairs and fall down. Don't you have things like that in the wizarding world?"

"You mean like a gate spell that would prevent entry to babies on their own?"

"Yeah, like that? Do you already have one up?"

"No, we never needed it before. But if you want, there's a book on it I could get you."

"Yeah, that'd be great."

Draco retrieved the textbook for Harry and a children's book from the library. Draco read to his twins while Harry tried to figure out the baby proofing book, but Harry didn't get far before Hermione arrived and Draco left for his appointment. Since Teddy was still asleep, Harry cast a monitoring charm on him and went upstairs with Hermione to put the boys down for their nap. This time Sev went right to sleep, and Scorp fussed for a while first. Harry ended up giving Scorp a soother and rocking him in the rocker before he finally went to sleep.

Harry and Hermione went back downstairs and Harry showed Hermione the baby proofing book. Hermione, of course, was extremely interested in the book and eager to help. While they worked, Hermione told Harry about supper at the Burrow last night and about how George was planning a giant wiz-bang display to honor Fred. While they talked, they cast a baby-repulsion charm on the stairs, which would prevent the babies from getting within two feet of the stairs.

They were just moving onto the fireplace when it suddenly occurred to Harry that Hermione had stuck to telling him about the Weasleys, but had yet to mention her parents. "And what of your parents Hermione? Did you bring them back from Australia?" Hermione turned bright red and looked down at the book she held, which was very unusual behavior for Hermione. "You did go visit them and restore their memory, didn't you? How'd that go?"

"I didn't," Hermione admitted.

"You didn't what? You didn't restore their memories? Or you didn't go visit them?"

"I didn't even go. Oh Harry! What if they hate me? What if they're so mad at me for wiping their memories and sending them to Australia! What if they never forgive me?"

"It'll be okay Hermione; your parents love you and I'm sure they'll understand," Harry said, taking Hermione into a platonic hug in front of the fireplace.

"Yeah, I'm sure you're right," Hermione agreed, calming down.

"Of course I'm right. Now when are you gonna go visit them? You at least need to restore their memory and ask them if they want to come back," Harry said, releasing Hermione from the hug.

"I guess I could go tomorrow… Ron will go with me."

"Yeah, Ron will definitely be there to back you up, but you know it'll go well; your parents love you."

"Yeah," Hermione agreed and started thinking about how she would do it; tell her parents first, or restore their memory first.

They continued their talk about Hermione's parents while they finished charming the fireplace to be cool to touch, so that it wouldn't burn little fingers.

Then Teddy started fussing and wailing, so Harry fed and burped him, while Hermione looked up the next safety spell; this one a confinement spell for the patio, so that the babies couldn't wind up lost in the vineyard. They set Teddy's swing outside on the patio and this time Harry told Hermione about some of the events that had happened at the villa since she left yesterday.

Harry didn't tell Hermione about Lucius bringing home Voldemort's napkin rings, but he did tell her that Lucius had brought back some of Bellatrix's things. Hermione was outraged that Lucius would bring anything of Bellatrix's back, so Harry told her about Draco showing him the dangerous potion ingredient and the conversation they had had last night about dark artifacts. Hermione was appalled at first, but by the end of it she had to admit that Draco had a point that some things had both good and bad uses and that as long as the dangerous items were locked up safely with no chance of Lucius getting into them, it was probably okay.

They had covered all the biggest hazards, so they took a break, returning to the drawing room with Teddy, where they found Andy and Narcissa just brushing the soot off after returning from their trip to the probate attorney.

"Hello Hermione, it's good to see you," Narcissa greeted.

"Yes, and Harry, can I ask you to watch Teddy for a while longer? Cissy and I need to fill out some paperwork in the study," Andy said.

Harry agreed and Narcissa and Andy went into the next room, leaving Hermione and Harry once again alone with Teddy. Harry told Hermione about the conversation he had had with Draco this morning about how sick Draco had been during the pregnancy.

"Merlin Hermione, I felt like such an arse when I realized that he was so sick for the last six months of his pregnancy and here I was asking him to go through that again, just because I was scared to try it?"

"You didn't know and I'm sure he forgives you. He loves you Harry."

"Yeah, I know. He's really great."

"So did you guys decide to stick with just the boys then?"

"Um, no, actually I was thinking…er…it might be nice."

"Are you telling me you've changed your mind?"

"Yeah, sorta."

"That's great!" Hermione said, giving him a hug.

"Yeah, I want a little girl to go with the three boys and I think I can do it. I mean, if Draco went through all that to give us the twins, then I can carry our daughter."

"Then you've decided on adopting Teddy? Did you talk to Andy about it?"

"No, I haven't."

"I know they said they had paperwork to do, but I'm sure it can wait. This might be the perfect time to talk to Andy, with your twins asleep and Draco gone." Hermione prodded.

"I don't know; she seemed busy."

"She's not too busy when it's something concerning her grandson. I'll watch Teddy; you go talk to her."

"Yeah, alright, I'll go," Harry said getting up and handing Teddy over to Hermione.

Harry went next door to the study and knocked. "Come in," Narcissa called.

"Um, Andy, I was wondering if we could talk about Teddy again," Harry said.

"Yes, of course dear. Let's go to the dining room and get some tea; I could use a break from this paperwork anyway," Andy said.

"I'll keep working on it for now; we can finish up later," Narcissa said.

Harry and Andy went into the dining room and Andy asked the elves to bring them tea and biscuits. Harry wasn't hungry, but he took a cup of tea, if for nothing else than for something to hold onto in his nervousness.

"I'm glad you came to me Harry; I was just thinking that we needed to have another talk, what with everything I just learned at the lawyer's office."

"Oh, what is it?"

"Well there's all kinds of legal matters that have to be settled after a death. There's bodies to claim and funerals to plan and then there's planning for little Teddy's future. I thought that we'd be alright with Dora's life insurance policy. She died on the job as an Auror, so Teddy will get payouts every month. But the lawyer just informed me of all these bills that have to be covered as well. The biggest problem is that Remus and Dora just bought a house last year when they got married. It's a big step buying your first house and I was happy for them, but given what has happened, they really should've just moved in with me and Ted."

"Um, what's wrong with their house? Can't you just sell it?"

"Oh, we are going to have to sell it, that's for sure, but it won't fetch nearly as much as it cost."

"Why?"

"Because Dora and Remus were attacked by Death Eaters several times in that house. The Death Eaters set fire to the place, so they were staying with me the last few months anyway. They were hoping to get it repaired after the war, but the lawyer just told me that the home owners insurance won't pay, because they were late making a payment. I can't fix the house and I can't afford to keep it, so I've agreed to sell it for less than half what they paid. But then there's the mortgage to consider and the bank will want their money back, which they'll take from Dora's life insurance policy. Between that and all the expenses of another funeral and three burials… My house was paid off, but I had to take out a small mortgage on it to pay for repairs from my own Death Eater attacks and with Ted gone and me retired, I'm on a limited income. I was really counting on having that life insurance money to raise Teddy. As it is, I can't afford to support him."

"Oh. I want to help."

"Of course you and Draco can help. I saw the way Draco was with him yesterday and it got me thinking that Teddy really does fit right in with your family. You're boys aren't much older and I can just imagine them running through the halls here when their older. I was thinking that the only way I can make things work, is to sell my home and get a smaller place. But I don't want Teddy cooped up in a small apartment, not when you and Draco are willing to take him in and you'll have the Manor for him to roam. It's just not fair to Teddy to keep him with me, so I want him to live with you and Draco."

"Yeah, he can live with us; it'll be great. That's one of the things I wanted to talk to you about: Draco said he wanted us to sort out who Teddy was gonna live with most of the time. He'll be happy to know we made a decision."

"Wonderful. Oh this really is such a relief off my chest to know that Teddy will be cared for.

"You know Andy, you'll be welcome over at our house all the time."

"You really are a remarkable young man, give me a hug dear," Andy said, hugging Harry.

"Thank you mam," Harry said, hugging Andy back.

"Now I really do need to get back to those forms. The lawyer said he would contact a realtor to put both houses on the market, but I've got to fill out the forms to claim Dora and Remus' bodies from Hogwarts; they can't stay there under stasis charms forever."

Harry hadn't thought about it, but it made sense that the bodies were all still at the school where they had fallen. He let Andy get back to her paperwork with Narcissa and he went back into the drawing room with Hermione to tell her the good news. Draco was already there, back from his interview at the Quibbler, which meant he could tell them both at the same time.

"How did your talk with Andy go?" Hermione asked.

"Good. Well she's having some money problems and that's not good, but we agreed that Teddy would live with me and Draco," Harry said.

"Did you talk to her about adopting him?" Draco asked.

"Um no, but I will," Harry said and Draco gave him a pointed look. "It wasn't a good time. She just found out that her financial situation is so bad that she has to sell her house and move into an apartment and I didn't want to add to her load that she has to deal with right now. Give her a few more days to sort out paperwork and make her arrangements and then I'll ask her."

"You can bring me home an orphan Harry, but don't you dare bring me home half of an orphan. He can live with us, but only if we're adopting him; you should've been upfront with my aunt and told her that," Draco said and Hermione giggled.

"Alright, I will, I promise. We'll get it worked out before she leaves," Harry promised.

* * *

Author's Note: Now that Andy has decided to sell her house, it won't be long before Narcissa offers her the use of the guesthouse. It will need quite a lot of repairs, but it's big enough for Andy and Teddy to both stay in. And it's close enough to the Manor that Teddy can be over playing all the time, even if Harry and Draco don't end up adopting him. Do you think they should adopt him, or just be there for him, while Andy raises him? Either way, the guesthouse is close enough that Andy and Teddy can be at the Manor all of the time.


End file.
